Life Is Strange After the Storm Episode 6 Frozen Forest
by WickDaLine
Summary: What if death was not the end? What if it was only a new beginning? The time has come for Max to save the world from turmoil and put an end to the Neo-Chrysalis plot to reign chaos and strip bare. The struggle to stop the fracture in time begins now. Saving the world from the end of time itself will be twice the atrocity than the demise of Arcadia Bay.
1. Better To Reign In Hell

**Note: Reader's Discretion is advised. This is the finale of a six part story. If you haven't read the previous episodes, please do so now! Thank you!**

 **Well folks, here I am. Walking like a hurricane. Prepared to write the hell out of this finale of my season 2 fan fiction! Before we begin, all I can say that it's been a remarkable journey for us all up until now. I'd like to congratulate all my followers for all their support in this story for such a long road that started over a year ago. For such hard work put into this fiction, I never imagined making such a big accomplishment before in my whole life. Never before have I lived up to achieving the impossible and making it this far with everyone. This final episode of my S2 fic will be my congratulating treat for everyone who has enjoyed this series up until now.**

 **One more thing before we get started. I want to say that I actually of some ideas and plans to write a oneshot story, a spinoff story that links to this fiction, and not to mention...a season 3 fan fiction to LIS. A direct sequel to this fic which I believe shall conclude Max and Chloe's story as a trilogy. Even though Nathan Drake's story didn't end in a trilogy, Commander Shepard's story and Katniss Everdeen's story did. So why shouldn't Max Caulfield's? I know Dontnod already has a sequel set to release sometime next year or the following and that it might feature a superior cast and setting like GTA always does, but I alone and everyone else is entitled to their work of fiction and nothing Dontnod does will ever change that. Even so, season 3 will take time to develop and I shall continue to complete season 2 and a few other future endeavors of mine. I will try to post my oneshot and my anthology fic in the meanwhile sometime after or during the completion of this finale and before the premiere of season 3.**

 **In the meantime, thanks for tuning in and enjoy the finale everybody! Which I call COD Time Ops *ahem*. Oh, for fucks sake. SMH. Which I call LIS Season 2 EP6 Frozen Forest. You all mean the world to me! I love you all so much! Piece out!**

Previously on Life is Strange: After the Storm...

"My name is Maxine Emily Caulfield, and I shall tell everyone in this court to go fourth, do the right thing to prevent the wrong, and to bring the hope to the good people of Arcadia Bay. From this moment forward, we will tell ourselves, life is hard. Life is unfair. Life is strange."

"You can be mad at yourself all you like, but until you stop insulting yourself about what should've happened and stop lamenting on the past, everything you've done to keep Chloe alive would be in vain. She owes it to you to mean something. And you owe to her to mean something as well. It's that simple."

"May the good people of Arcadia Bay be obliged. Arcadia Bay is not a place of terrorism and tyranny. It is a place of piece and hospitality. All of that piece and hospitality has been diminished by not only the regime of the Prescotts and the brutality of Chrysalis, but by the two everyday heroes of Blackwell who were wronged by injustice of quantum terrorism."

"Him of all people. It was him? He's the son a of bitch who tried to take Max away!?"

"I knew it would only be a matter of time before you made it this far. You won't be alive long enough to expose what you've discovered."

"Ever since that first day in court, you reminded me of someone who could've killed me in the girls bathroom. In fact, your even worse than your son ever was."

"Whatever sad and sorry ass life you lived throughout the years from losing your Daddy in an accident to spending the next five years without Maxine Caulfield, is nothing compared to what my family has suffered for years!"

"Ms. Caulfield, on behalf of your innocence, you are hereby cleared from all charges against you. You will now be released from your detainment. This case has concluded."

"Max Caulfield, the people demand a commit of your gratitude," she says running up to me with he microphone. "How does it feel to be relieved from your crimes you've been wronged by?"

"You have no idea how it feels for me to be a free girl," I commit. "It's like the sweet smell of flowers and rainbows. That's how it feels."

Rachel picks up her glass and holds it up in front of her to make the toast.

"Here's to Max," she says holding her cup. "Our everyday hero. Drinks are on her. To Max."

"To Max," everyone says in unison holding their glass up, including me and Chloe.

"I never thanked you for coming back for me," says Chloe. "For coming back to Arcadia Bay when you were still alive."

"From the look of things, you moved on with your life with Max knowing I had died. I can't blame you for how you acted that day. Your sincerely welcome."

"You don't just come back for Chloe, Rachel," I say. "You came back for me. You chose to be there me and Chloe knowing that we were all in danger. And your the bravest person I've ever known to accomplish what I could never. Because of you, Chloe and I are together again."

"I know, Max," said Rachel. "Your a brave person yourself. The two of you are fighters just like me."

"Life is good knowing nothing can ever break you apart," said Chloe. "Even though a single tragedy can occur to you once in a lifetime, you'll always keep moving forward to find hope after a long struggle finding it. Just like what happened to Daddy. Just like what happened to Nathan. Hope is the only thing stronger than fear."

"What happened to William and Nathan," I say. "It'll never happen to any of us, Chloe. Not anymore. I'll always be your partner in crime."

"As long as your my partner in time."

"Tomorrow, we start over and never look back at our insulting profanity of a quantum crisis Arcadia Bay has periled for the past week since you've been gone," I reply. "From this day forward, this will be another week to remember. Just like that other week."

"You are correct, Chloe. This has become another week to remember. As memorable as our reunion week. That'll be the story of our lives."

"Tonight is the Quantic Solutions Expo at Chrysalis Headquarters where they'll be unveiling Project Elysium. This morning I've managed to discover a troubling truth about the project. For the past sixth months, I've been getting these visions of an incoming incident upon the horizon. After all these months of figuring out why, I finally have the answer."

"Max, as much as I deserved the truth about this storm thing and rewind power situation between you and Chloe," began David. "You're gonna need a better explanation than this."

"I swear on Joyce and Chloe's lives, David," said Max. "This is the best explanation your gonna get. My point being is that I'd like to be a hero for once and prevent another disaster worse than the tornado storm from happening. You don't have to believe on this one, but it's true. The major part of visions were one of a mythical time god named Chronos. Every time I see him, he tells me the end of time is coming. That I cannot deny. If Rachel, Chloe, and I can believe it, you all owe it to us to believe it as well."

"Say I do believe you, Max," said David. "What exactly is going to happen if none of us don't?"

"Then the world is going to come to an end is what's going to happen," said Max.

"What is it that you want from us, Max?" asked Warren. "I've got better shit to do than stick my nose into your nonsense. Especially after almost getting myself killed in some bunker built for WWIII."

"Rachel and I have arranged some jobs for everyone to do here. We call it, the Chrysalis Job or Heist or whatever. It's a heist we've planned for us to do to prevent the time fracture from happening."

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is a special night tonight here at Chrysalis. Without further or do, I announce to you all, Project Elysium."

"God help us, Chloe," said Max. "This - this is all in two days. This Thursday. I should've foreseen this! This nothing like Arcadia Bay. They're gonna attack every city on the coast to all over the world! We have to warn someone!"

"Max, I would rewind or something if I were you!" snapped Chloe. "Do something!"

"Five seconds, Max!" thundered Ranikov. "Now!"

"No! Stop!" I holler.

I stand up revealing myself out of the crowd. Before Alyssa could bite the dust. Then Ranikov pushes her off the stage and aims his pistol in my direction.

"Open fire!" he shouts

I instantaneously shield ourselves from the bullets with my time shield. Protecting Chloe, David, Joyce, and Kris from the bullets.

Suddenly, a van rapidly backed out behind us. We both gasp while the other vehicle rushed it's was out of the lot blocking our path. We were now trapped between two vehicles. Then suddenly, goons with mask hop out of the sliding door from the van, seize us by the arms, and cover our mouths with white toxic rags. I struggle and whimper though an awfully sweet smell on the rag. Chloe does the same.

The goons in the van restrain our wrists together with duct tape while we lye down next them unconscious from the chloroform they dosed us with. The van approaches the outpost located in the Tillamook forest. The mercs toss us out of the van like a bunch of Barbie dolls and we fall on the ground unconscious with our hands tapped together.

Derrick Crosby was the man. The criminal master mind of my setup. The maniac behind the fracture in time. The man behind our snitch and abduction. And now the man ready to set the world on fire and bring about the end of time as we knew it. Prepared to destroy the world. That...he was doing.

Chapter 1 Better To Reign In Hell

Max

April 23, 2014

10:28 PM

Portland, Oregon

Downtown Portland

Darkness. Dusk. Iniquity. Devilry. Deference for darkness fell across the outskirts of Portland. A city in peril by the skirmishes of Neo-Chrysalis and the Fallen minions of Elysium. The attack on Portland had initiated over eleven hours ago when the Chrysalis tower triggered a portal in the sky releasing the impious hells of Elysium. Unleashing the Fallen to invade Portland and the entire globe bringing about the fracture in time itself.

I alone have fought for my life battling through skirmishes of Neo-Chrysalis and supernatural Fallen spirits. After eleven hours of a full-scale warzone, nearly of half the population of the city had been evacuated by Chrysalis units. Leaving the entirety of Portland deserted from it's turmoil.

This quantum warfare that had struck the city had not been pleasant. Fires from explosions lit up buildings like Christmas chimneys. Cars and public transports had been rendered derelict in the crossfire. What Hollywood calls a city destruction cliche. Many more people have been loss to this attack. Way more than Arcadia Bay. It had been just as I always feared since my visions in Seattle. What Chloe and I uncovered with the Chrysalis time broker. What Chronos had been warning me about for months now since day zero.

I remember watching Transformers Dark of the Moon where all the Autobots and Decepticons bombastically fight each other hand-to-hand through loud firefights and explosions during an epic final battle in Chicago. I remember seeing the Avengers movie where all the superheroes battle Loki's forces in New York. So far I felt like being in a city disaster film done by Michael Bay or Marvel Studios.

Chloe, Rachel, Frank, David, Captain Cage and his men, and I fought through slums, alley's, and deserted buildings just to fight our way to the Chrysalis tower to stop Crosby's time fracture bring about the end of the world. As of right now, it was just the two of us on our own. Completely separated from other Chrysalis forces defending Portland.

As Chloe and I patrol the deserted streets of Portland, an explosion from a gas tanker ignited out of nowhere and pushed the two of us in midair knocking us down on a car. Rendering the two of us outcold.

I lye down on the street unconscious. I slowly start to peel my eyelids open. Waking up to a rather rude awakening. I see my gloved hand resting on the asphalt. A scarlet blaze from the explosion that made us pass out from the shock. Dark shadow-like figures swarming our presence. A horde of Fallen no doubt. Then I see bullets flickering on the asphalt cutting down the pack of Fallen standing in our way. I had to assume it was friendly fire.

I see my pistol on the ground in front me. Lying next to my hand. I pick up my gun and slowly but quickly get back up on my feet. The bullet fire had come from a small chopper hovering in front of us that had been sweeping the floor for us. Spraying down the pack of Fallen after us. A spotlight could be seen on the chopper shinning down on us. I block the light with my left hind so it doesn't blind me. Then I see Chloe lying down next to me. Still passed out from the shock. I also see Chloe with a wound on her hip. She must've have been cut with something really sharp when she had been pushed away by the explosion. Enough for her to bleed out while still undergoing unconsciousness. I wasn't losing Chloe again. Not tonight. Not this day. Not ever.

I immediately grab hold of Chloe, bleeding out and passed out, dragging her unconscious body with my might down to the alley off the street with walking Fallen. Once we're in the alleyway, safe from the raining bullets and swarming Fallen, the chopper flies it's way in the direction of the alley we hide in and shines it's spotlight in front of us. I aim my pistol at the helicopter shining it's light ray on us while I carry Chloe with my bear arm. The chopper doesn't shoot at us and attack us. Confirming the air vehicle as friendly. Then the chopper flies away from us. No longing overlooking me and my weary girlfriend with it's light ray. Leaving us on our own the rest of the way. I guess I should thank our air support for holding off the Fallen for us. I owe them.

I put Chloe down off my shoulder before proceeding into the alley. I had to fix her wound before she bleed out and died again. I remembered my healing power I could use with my chronon energy. I set Chloe down on a dumpster in the alley to check her wound. She had been cut badly and I had to stop the bleeding. I take my hand and gently press it onto Chloe's wound. Absorbing the chronon energy into it to heal her wound. My healing power dissolves the wound and makes the bleeding disappear. Making Chloe healthy, but still in shock from the blast and her injury I had just healed. I cup my hand on Chloe face and check for a heartbeat. Her vitals are normal again, but still passed out.

"C'mon, it's not over yet," I say to her. "Hang in there, Chloe. We'll get through this."

I pick my partner up again, carrying her arm around my neck shoulders, and proceed into the dark alley. Cutting through the Portland slums.

Didn't we already do this before? Back in Arcadia Bay during the storm? When Chloe had carried me unconscious up to that lighthouse? Talk about deja vu. I'm now carrying Chloe unconscious through the slums in this city now. Hoping to find the easy way to the Chrysalis tower where Crosby is still at large of taking over the world. And we're still clicks behind from saving the world.

I see door to a building we could enter through. However, it was boarded shut. A boarded door wasn't going to prevent us from stopping Crosby. We weren't getting off that easy. After all that we've been through, it would be a waste to give up now. There was a metal pipe next to the door I could use to break the boards open. I held Chloe tightly, picked up the pipe, and slid it under the boards to break them open. I heave with my pipe and the board begin to snap. I have the pipe a couple more time until the wood is broken. Once the wood breaks in half, we were free to enter the building.

When proceeding inside, Chloe gets heavier and heavier carrying her by the arm around my neck and shoulders. Either that blast knocked her out good, or she was killed by it. Not on my watch. Not by a longshot. Chloe's a survivor. A fighter just like me. Just like Rachel. You know who.

I hear the propeller of a helicopter from outside. That chopper must be coming around again to search inside. I can see a light ray from a spotlight shin across a corner in the building. I wasn't going to take any chances of it being a friendly chopper incase it wasn't the same that shot down the pack of Fallen. So I hid the two of us behind the corner until the chopper departed from our presence. And so it did. Then I stepped ourselves out of cover and continued our way over.

"Let's try this way," I said. "We're almost through this."

I could see bodies of locals and a Chrysalis soldier by the window the spotlight had peeked through. Either Neo-Chrysalis or Fallen must of disposed of them. Though it was horrific to walk by, I had no incentive or time in mourning what I'd seen. We needed to reach that tower. The world is ending in less than an hour in a half. We had to be out of the slums fast.

Once we made our exit out of the small building, I can hear Chloe moan next to me. She was waking up. I set her down by a corner in another alley where we had just made our exit to out of the building. When I place her down against that as she wakes up, I crouch down beside her to check up on her.

"Chloe? Chloe can you hear me? Say something."

"Mm, Max? What happened? I must've passed out."

"We're even now. Don't ever do that to me again okay?"

"Max, I- I saw him again. I saw my Dad again. I must've been dreaming. He was there in Elysium. I haven't seen his face again in so long."

"Doesn't matter. Let's take a break. You were cut when you were out. I was able to stop the bleeding with my power, but your wound might reopen. I'm gonna find some meds to make sure it doesn't."

There was a military Chrysalis truck parked in the alley. I decide to look inside the vehicle for med supplies to sustain Chloe's wound.

"There's got to be a first aid kit in here somewhere," I say.

When peaking through the windows of the military vehicle, I see two dead soldiers rotting in the driver seat and passenger seat. This truck must've crashed. The cause of the crash most likely would've came from the fighting that occurred.

"Makes me sick seeing good soldiers die like this," I said.

I see a pack of gauze or whatnot lying around in the passenger seat. The doors were locked. So I broke the window open, reached for the gauze, and returned to Chloe with med supply she needed.

 _"Max, are you there?"_ asked Rachel on comms.

"Rachel, I'm here," I respond.

 _"Good to hear your okay. Where's Chloe?"_

"She's not doing to good. She needs medical attention."

 _"Shit. Do you have a med kit with you?"_

"I do, but I'm not sure it will help."

I patch Chloe up with the gauze to prevent her wound from reopening. I get under her skin and wrap the gauze around her waste to attend to her injuries. With my partner fully conscious and healed, it was time to move forward.

"Too many good people have died here today," I said. "You're not getting added to that list."

"Max...", murmured Chloe. Then gasped staring at something from behind.

I turn around to see a dark figure in military uniform in gear. No doubt it was a Fallen dressed in tactical Chrysalis ware. The Fallen demon sparked into a black conflagration and inferno red eyes. The Fallen had approached me slowly. Growling and walking slowly my direction like a zombie. I aim my gun at the demon, but my clip is empty. The Fallen seizes hold of me I try fighting against it. I struggle against the demons will hand in hand. Then I fall on my back with the demon pinning me down on the ground.

The malevolent demon attempts to bite me like angry wolf and I grunt back at it. Using my bare hands to struggle against the biting by my hands real hard to push against the jaw and face. And then, I finish the demon off by pulling knife out of it's sheath and stabbing it through the forehead. Then the demon imploded into oblivion like Dracula. Barely winning against the struggle. I got back on my feet to help Chloe get back on her feet. We still had a long road ahead of us to the Chrysalis tower. I'd be damned if just one lousy Fallen demon dropped me before I get ever ten city blocks to the wormhole.

"Can't let you guard down for a second," I said to Chloe. "How do you feel?"

"I think I'm gonna be okay," she said. "Thank you."

 _"Max, what are you doing?"_ asked Rachel. _"You need to get out of there now."_

"We're headed to evac point where our chopper is waiting for us. That's how we'll get to the Chrysalis tower quicker."

 _"Alright, then let us help. David and I will direct you to the safest route."_

"Thanks, Rachel. Max out."

I grab an extra clip out of my ammo pouch and reload my pistol. I help Chloe get up on her feet so together we could get to the chopper. As the Schwarzeneger says. With Chloe healthy and all patched up, I no longer needed out haul her ass over my shoulders. Time was running out and we need to stop that portal in the sky. Not if we could help it.

 _"I've sent the field guide to your PDA,"_ said Rachel. _"You can always refer to that in a pinch."_

I check my GPS device on my PDA and we were only two clicks behind our nav point. Where the chopper would be extracting us for exfil. With no time to loose, we make a break for it and find a way out of the alley. We had to cut through another building down a small hallway that appeared to be a fire escape. Once we're out of the building, we walk through a door to a balcony that take us to no place but one where it was better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven.

The route we took had taken us to a freeway packed with totaled cars and ravaging Fallen on a rampage. The freeway and the building between it were set of fire. The sky lighting up with fiery stars that summon Fallen to the surface. The Chrysalis tower was now just ahead of us. Towering everything else from above. We could see smoke coming out of the tower from when Neo-Chrysalis attacked. As well as the big portal streaming in the sky above the building. Like the Gozer tower from Ghostbusters. Until now, this was all turning out to be a Hollywood disaster film like Roland Emmerich's Independence Day or Michael Bay's Armageddon. This had not been the most likely safest route as Rachel mentioned, but it wasn't as if we had another choice.

Without any other option, we hop off the balcony and into the decimated freeway. Having run out of options, we knew we had to fend for ourselves against the invading Fallen. We fight them off via guns and fist. Some we shoot off with our pistols, others we fight hand to hand. A few of the demons try picking off from crawling under the cars and seizing us by the leg, others are clear targets that roam around the condemned traffic. A majority of the shadow demons come out of the woodwork on the damaged freeway. Nothing Super Max and Wonder Chlo couldn't handle.

"Max, look!" shouted Chloe.

All of a sudden, a Chrysalis jet fighter that had crash landed onto a building by the freeway was now falling off the building and collapsed onto the freeway. Landing on a gasoline tanking. Causing a chunk of the freeway to crumble down below and the tank to spill gallons of flammable fuel. It would combust into an explosion in any minute now.

"Run!" I shout.

In a matter of seconds, the explosive and combustible gasoline set on fire and started a chain reaction of a mass explosion. The effect of the explosion had caused cars to spring in the air and vault onto other cars. The two of us run to safety away from the charging explosion that had been destroying the freeway we ran on. While running for our lives, the chopper had arrived in the nick of time. Ready for extraction to pick us up off the exploding freeway. We must already be at the evac point.

The helicopter hovers over a row of cars to pick us up. A Chrysalis soldier hop out to hold some Fallen off our tail that had been chasing us on the exploding freeway. The soldier stood on a delivery truck with his rifle aimed at the Fallen and bullets picking off the demons. Chloe and I raced to the chopper and hopped onto some vehicles to get to it. We run on top of the cars and to the chopper as fast as we could.

"Over here! Get in!" the soldier shouted as we raced for the chopper.

Chloe was ahead of me. She had been a faster runner than I ever was.

"Go now!" I shout to her. "Get to the chopper!"

I can't believe I just quoted a movie while running away from explosion. Guess cool guys really don't look at explosions. Like Andy Samberg says. Like Denzel Washington in Man on Fire. Eventually we reach the chopper, but the soldier doesn't come on board with us and tells us to leave him behind. Chloe hops onto the chopper with ease. I however grab hold of chopper's landing gear as I jump off a truck and the helicopter takes flight again. I hang on as tight as I could. Then I realize a Fallen demon had latched onto me and was now hanging on by my leg. I kick the demon off of me and it fall down into the massive fire from the explosion. Where the soldier that helped us get on had been killed as well.

Chloe helps me get up inside the chopper as it departs from the destroyed freeway. We were now safe inside and on our way to the tower. We both catch our breaths and give the pilot and nod to let him know we're okay. He nods back. Then suddenly, something had hit the tail of the helicopter. Knocking us down as we both felt the thud of whatever hit us. It had been the rocket of an RPG fire from a Fallen. We had been shot down. The pilot was knocked outcold. The helicopter had lost control. We were going down and about to crash.

I race over to the cockpit and take the controls in order to keep the chopper airborne. What did I know about flying helicopters? Where's David when you need him? This is something for him to control, not me. All I could do is pull the throttle on the control to stabilize our altitude.

"Damn it! I can't bring her up!" I shout. "Come on!"

"Pull up!" Chloe shouts back.

"I'm trying!"

As I struggle to maintain our altitude, we hit a few signs and ads on buildings with the propeller. At least we don't crush ourselves into the building themselves and get ourselves killed.

"C'mon! C'mon!" I shout. "Pull up!"

Without bumping into anymore buildings, I fly ourselves higher up above away from the lower buildings so we don't crash into anymore. Despite the helicopter tail being shot off by the RPG rocket, I could at least fly ourselves closer to the Chrysalis tower until we crash land somewhere and survive somehow. With our tail on fire though, it would be so much more easier told than done.

"This thing isn't going to hold much longer," said Chloe, hanging onto the cockpit seats.

"Just a few more blocks," I said.

Little did we know that another Fallen had latched itself on board before we took off. The demon had been hanging onto the landing the entire time and was now climbing it's way inside the chopper. Once it was inside, it grabbed hold of Chloe and tossed her down on her hip. Chloe was in trouble. She was now struggling against the shadow minion and I had to help her.

"Chloe!" I shout.

I grab my gun and turn my head around save Chloe for the thousandth time while piloting the chopper. It was difficult to aim while piloting since the chopper was shaking a bit. Giving my air sick while flying and aiming at the same time. Eventually I shot the demon off of Chloe and she's free. The demon imploded itself away from Chloe and I had to get back to flying.

That was when I had just noticed I was about to crash into a skyscraper in front of me. I quickly turn the throttle to steer the chopper away from the building. Even then, I had flown ourselves above a train bridge where a city train was now about to run us over. I turn the chopper on the other side of the tracks only to scrap through the side of the train with our helicopter as it passed. This was the second time I barely save ourselves from a train since the first one back on the Arcadia railroad.

Once we flew off the tracks, I had lost complete control of the chopper and we were now about to crash straight into the Chrysalis tower. The chopper crashed it's way through the glass windows and through the offices inside the building. The helicopter was now being into a broken wreak with shattered glass, a broken propeller, and a tail on fire. The chopper skid it's way through the rooms and eventually crashed onto a ad board in the center of the building.

The derelict chopper was now tipping over the side of the electronic board. Chloe and I had to get out of here before we got ourselves killed in this wreck. We instantly jump out of the chopper and grab onto an electrical wire hanging out of the wall from the impact. We both hang on tight onto the wire as we see the chopper go down and hit the bottom floor. Then the ad board was about to go down with it. The wire we held onto was attached to the big ad and now we were about to go down with it.

The two of us both fall down on the ground as the wire snaps off and we both land on our backs real hard as the giant electrical sign collapses with us and our chopper that was now DOA. Landing on a fall like that hurt like hell. It was excruciatingly painful. We had almost broken our spines apart. At least now our crazy ass crash landing was over I've got to say, it had been the craziest and most longest crash landing ever.

We slowly get up off the ground with our backs aching. I grunt my teeth as I try fighting off the pain. Chloe does the similar. Then I realize we had crash landed into the lobby of the Chrysalis HQ. Indubitably so.

"You alright?" I ask Chloe.

"No," she answers. "And neither are you."

"Well, we made it Chloe. We're at Chrysalis HQ. Time to end this."

As I'm back on my legs, I take Chloe's hand to help her up. On we're both off the floor, we grab our guns and check our surroundings. We knew Crosby would be at the very top of the tower and that's where we had to go to stop him.

"Something doesn't feel right," said Chloe.

Suddenly, a loud thump was heard very close to us. We draw our guns towards where the sound came in front of us and it is no one but a man in a heavy mech suit ready to attack us and finish us. And I bet you know who it was.

"Back for more?" I say.

 **Note: So how is that for the start of an epic finale, huh? As you may already tell, I have written this first chapter as a prologue chapter where the exposition begins within the rising action. Then you flash back to where it truly began up until how it all opened. For example, how Uncharted 2 starts with the train wreck scene that opened with the rising action or how Uncharted 4 does the same formula with Nate and Same driving the boat through a storm and fighting off some Shoreline on their way to Libertalia.**

 **In this instance, my prelude chapter to this episode is a reference to Resident Evil 6's prelude chapter where Leon and Helena are in a helicopter crash. Of course, that game never had the best prologue, but even so, I found it to be a good enough reference for a strong opening to episode 6 anyhow. Chapter 2 will pick up back to episode 5's cliffhanger where Max and Chloe were kidnapped. Things are gonna get greasier and greasier through this whole episode. This finale shall be the best episode yet! Much faster paced and no more filler that I hate writing.**

 **I've spent over a year writing this fan fiction project and it has indeed been worth my time and effort. Well worth my while. This adventure of ours isn't over yet. Frozen Forest will be my most ambitious chapter of my fiction yet. I hope everything I've been setting up until has indubitably paid off. Enjoy it all while you still can.**

 **Until next time, stay golden!**

 **P.S. Prepare yourselves for another daring twist in the next chapter. Even a lot more interesting than my Crosby twist.**


	2. Terrible Truths

Chapter 2 Terrible Truths

Max

April 22, 2014

9:45 PM

Tillamook Saw Mill

Tillamook Forest

23 Hours Earlier...

I lye down in a pitch black room unconsciously with my wrists bound with duct tape. The chloroform I had been dosed with hours ago begins to wear off as I slowly open my eyes to darkness. I had been drugged to sleep, again. My feels a little drowsy and stiff from the wiff of chloroform they drugged me with as I slowly lift my myself awake. That's when I realize my hands were tied with duct tape again in this dark room. Just right after the dark room.

Oh my dog, Max. You fucked up. You fucked up again. Why does everything need to be cut so close yet so far. The last thing I remembered was light on a car, then a van that ambushed us, and then some guys in mask seizing and cover our faces with chloroform. I tried using my rewind but then I had forgotten that I can't use it while being drugged and disemboweled. Just like the first time I was drugged by Jefferson. Last thing I could recall was Chloe and I getting tossed inside the van no doubt. Chloe...oh no. That's just great. I've actually gotten Chloe abducted with my ass. That is when I realize when I turn to my left, I see Chloe on the floor in this dark cell lying down asleep next to me. Her hands tied with duct tape as well. At least I wasn't alone.

"Psst, Chloe," I whisper to her. "Chloe, wake up."

Chloe was still passed out from the chloroform. I try shaking her with my bound hands, but she was still out.

"Wake up, Chloe. We've been captured. Wake up."

I hear a moan. She was waking up. I turn her body over to see her face awaken from her drugged state. Then eventually her eyes open.

"Max...what happened?" she moaned. "Where are we?"

"We're in some cell or something," I ask. "We've been abducted. It was all trap. Those terrorist must've kidnapped us here."

Suddenly, we hear the door open and a light ray from the opening. Two Neo-Chrysalis mercs had come inside after us to take us away.

"Oni bodrstvuyut (They're awake)", said one of the mercs.

"Voz'mem ikh Krosbi (Let's take them to Crosby)," said the other merc.

The two guards cover our heads with bags and drag us out of the cell. My face was completely covered by the bag they put over my head as they dragged us out. Did I just hear the name Crosby when they had spoke in Russian? Didn't Ranikov lead the attack on Chrysalis HQ? No, there's no way Crosby involved with these psychos. Just no way.

The guards escort us outside to the logging yard where we were being taken. I felt like a blind person who could only manage his or her life with a cane in hand with the bag over my head. I couldn't see or breath with it. At least I have some air through my head bag. The guards held us by the arms to walk us over to where we needed to be. Eventually the guards drop us down on our knees and remove the bags over our heads.

We then realize they had captured Rachel, Frank, and surprisingly Warren to this outpost too. Of course they have. The mercs had lined us up next to our other three companions bent on their knees and wrists tied with duct tape. We were all bent down on our knees with a group of mercenaries and their leader Ranikov. He hear a laugh of someone approaching this scene. I knew who the laughter belonged to. No other than the one person who was sworn to my allegiance. And now has betrayed my allegiance to a bunch of psychotic war criminals.

"You five look like your on a mission," said the traitorous Derrick Crosby.

I fucking knew it. Why did I ever trust this man? I've should've known. Him of all people would actually feed me more betrayal from another false father-like relationship?

This was no longer the Crosby I knew since the day we first met in the Principle's office two weeks earlier. In fact, this Crosby had been dressed completely out of character than when I last seen him back at the expo. This Crosby was now dressed in some black leather jumpsuit and trench coat with some dark shades for eyewear. A very Matrix-esque outfit he was wearing. The man reminded me of Lex Luthor and Agent Smith combined. The bald headed man removed his shades and gave me a malicious smirk in front of my face.

"Hello again, Max," said Crosby menacingly. "It's been such an between you and I, hasn't it?"

Now I'm having a panic attack. Why? Just why?

"I should've guessed," I say angrily. "It was you? Your the mole in Chrysalis?!"

"Don't act surprised, Max," said Crosby. "When I invited yourself and Chloe, I knew it would only be a matter of time before every one of you would go sneaking through my security and try to steal the ESR which we now have. Indubitably speaking, you all know now about our big plans for the fracture in time."

I don't know what to say for myself. First Jefferson, now him? Working for Neo-Chrysalis? This cannot be happening. After everything this man has done for me, even after my bad blood with Jefferson and the Prescotts, now Crosby becomes my new sinister nemesis? Fuck my life. How does everyone mentoring my life just betray me once in a fucking lifetime?

"You two should be grateful," he says. "I made you both become infamous for winning Arcadia Bay Versus Max Caulfield. Now remembered has two legends of Arcadia Bay. And here we are, making do of what we all worked for."

Chloe gives Crosby an awkward chuckle. Then a predictable pissed off attitude.

"You used us," she says angrily. "You betrayed us. And here I thought it was Mr. Prickscott who ruined our lives. Now you abduct us to this shithole dressed in some Matrix-wear, revealing himself to be the true mastermind, and you want us to be grateful?! Why the fuck did we trust you?! How the fuck could you do this us?!"

The villainous Mr. Crosby grits his teeth with a chuckle.

"Now there's the Chloe I was told about," he said. "A smartass rebel and ungrateful punk. Just like your mother and step-father once told me. You've got quite the language on you."

"Why are you doing this?" I ask him. "I was really starting to think what we had was special. Your actually taking over the world in two days? You run Neo-Chrysalis?"

The menacing man in his midnight leather outfit laughed.

"I am Neo-Chrysalis," stated Crosby. "As I am Chrysalis. You should know, Max, you've had much to learn about me since we first meet back at Blackwell. Would you really like to know my true persona?"

"I'm all ears," I reply.

"You and I have a lot in common. So much in common, it begins with a little twist. I'm just like you, Max. We both have a gift of something unnatural. I see things no one else sees. I do things no one else does. I've got the power to manipulate time."

Crosby had thrust his hand towards a mercenary freezing him in a time bubble. Then pulled out a gun out of his holster and fired bullets into his time bubble. Killing the merc he froze when his time stop wore off. My jaw drops the moment he reveals that he had my gift as well. Of course he had. All this time with all his lectures about time manipulation, it's no wonder he knew so much. It wasn't because he knew about time manipulation, it's because he had time manipulation just like me and Rachel.

"Intriguing, isn't it?" he asked. "When I first told you about time control, I was the master of it and in of itself."

"What else haven't you told me?" I ask. "What do the Prescotts have anything to do with this? Why take over the world and betray us like this?"

"Patience, Ms. Caulfield," he says. "I was just getting there. Back when Sean Prescott and I found Chrysalis, there was Neo-Chrysalis that into the world. That all stuck their noses into Prescott legacy, they wanted them to work for them. I alone had taken the liberty of working for them and becoming their leader. In matter of years, myself, Sean Prescott, and your old Blackwell pal Mark Jefferson built ourselves a little dark room together under the Prescott to pay homage to their lineage. We use it to kidnap Blackwell girls such as some of your old friends of yours like Kate Marsh, Victoria Chase, Rachel Amber, and yourself. We have all attempted to use youngsters like them as our little test subjects to determine who had control of time. Another old pal of yours, Nathan Prescott, becomes a valuable asset to our dark room project cause. A shame he had to die for his instability. I was just as much of a fatherly-like figure to him as I was to you, Max. I really was."

"So what about this time fracture or whatever that you've caused to end time? I assume your the one who sabotaged Project Elysium and let all those goons walks through your doorstep to take hostages and rig the place to blow?"

"What if I told that time is already ending, Max? That time has already been to it's closure since before the project even started? I've known about this prophecy since before I even founded Chrysalis."

"What do you mean prophecy?"

"Legend tells that a prophecy made by the Order of Saint Loomis claimed that the end of time will come when the rendezvous of the assignation of four, four, four, will be. At midnight in two days from now, I will fulfill that prophecy. Project Elysium will summon Elysium into this world to start a new. Saving everyone from the fracture in time. We're not here to destroy the world, Ms. Caulfield. We're here to save it."

"How does summoning some mythical world, blowing up your own building, and stealing something you already had for yourself save the world from time ending?"

"I have studied the process of Project Elysium. I secretly needed some modifications done to initiate our plans to bring this world to ours. All I needed to do was grant Ranikov and his men access to waltz right through my security and everything would go as planned. Imagine what the world will be like today if it were to intertwine with this myth? People could seem them again, Max. Everyone they have ever loved and lost. Everyone they've lost along the way. It will be a future with no regrets, no pity, no fear, no pain. People would be living in a frozen forest, a tropical island, an autumn haven, wherever it might be. To see the loved ones that have died in their lives again. The world's end will be it's new beginning."

"If you don't mind my asking, Mr. Crosbitch," said Chloe. "Now that you've explained to yourself why and how your taking over the world, may I ask what does the tornado storm have to do with this, huh? My mind reads it was your storm. Not Max's. Or even Mr. Prickscott's."

Did Chloe just call him Crosbitch? We've only found out Crosby had been the criminal maniac for five minutes and already she invents another insulting nickname for another antagonist that has just enter our lives. Couldn't blame her. First step-douche, then Jeffershit, then Prickscott, now Crosbitch. Always handed it to Chloe for being a master inventor for nicknames with swears. She had balls. The bald man in the Matrix-ware chuckles at Chloe's question and insult.

"Well, Ms. Price," began Crosbitch. "Let's just say that storm was a little diversion we created. In order to set up our plan, we needed a distraction to keep Chrysalis from discovering it. When a little birdie told me there was little girl in Arcadia Bay who could rewind time, we thought we could use a twister storm to set her up for no good. And so I decided to come into your life, be your witness protection, win your trial, and bring you here to this party I've invited you to. It's that simple."

"All those innocents killed in a storm just for distraction to keep people from divulging from another disaster your about to set up?!" I ask angrily "Just to fuck with my head and play me?! Why don't I even know you anymore? Why haven't I learned from my mistake of trusting Mark Jefferson six months then?! You're even more of an insane man than he ever was!"

"Jefferson was expendable," said Crosby. "Just like Nathan and his father before him. I only needed them out of my lives so no one else would oppose me. It's just you and me now, Ms. Caulfield. I'd be doing you a favor."

"You would sacrifice their normal lives for your insanity?" I ask. "You're telling me that all this time Jefferson, Nathan, and Sean were never the bad guys. They were just puppets tangled in someone else's strings. Puppets who could've actually have been better people who could've done better things in their lives if not for your self-indulgence! Jefferson would've been a great teacher at Blackwell. Nathan would still be alive living his longer life he had ahead of him. Sean could've made a better leader to Arcadia Bay if he wasn't so hellbent on erasing me out of the picture because you're so hellbent on saving the world by destroying it!"

"Enough!" he shouted. "What's done is done, Max. There's no return from it. A little more gratitude for standing up for your troubles would be fair. It matters no more. I won't waste my breath explaining what else needs to be done here. Unless...unless Ms. Amber here hasn't told you now has she. Rachel never told any of you what really happened to her after her disappearance."

"She told me enough, asshole," said Chloe. "She told me everything when she came back to me!"

"Chloe-" began Rachel before she was cut off.

"She told me that she faked her death, ran away to LA, and started her new life with the great Jack Divine. The one who made her a star."

"Then I wouldn't know what you're talking about," he replied. "Because first off, Jack Divine had died in an automobile accident in San Diego eight months ago. Second off, I'm the one who fabricated her death and resurrected her, heh?"

My heart goes cold. Chloe had told me about Rachel story in LA. Now Crosby is telling us that wasn't true? We all just stare at the man like we don't know what he was talking about. Chloe glanced at Rachel next to her in confusion. We obviously didn't know.

"Oh...wow," he continued. "What did she tell you? Rachel, what kind of story did you cook up? Jack Divine? Really? You lied? You lied to all your friends? Where do I even began? The truth is everyone, there was a time when Jefferson and I were good friends with each other. I was once a mentor with the late Nathan Prescott. Nathan alone had given Rachel an accidental overdose when him and Jefferson abducted her to that dark room. After that, I tell Mark to deliver her body to Chrysalis for a Lazarus program and to scam her death by burying her fake body to the dump. Rachel had spent the last six months in comatose in a Chrysalis laboratory and until her resurrection was rectified. Once she was brought back, she spent another six months working as an agent for Chrysalis until she was allowed to return to Arcadia. Rachel never went to LA. In fact, she never helped you with Max's case on her own. I gave her access to everything she needed to prove Max's intuition. And you know what, she did it all with me."

"Fuck you," said Chloe. "That's bullshit."

"Oh? Rachel, care to refute?"

"Chloe...", Rachel began.

"Aw, Rachel," said Chloe. "Ah, Jesus, no, no. Don't you fucking tell me it's true."

"Listen, Chloe. I didn't know what else to tell you. I really just didn't-"

"God dammit, Rachel! You did it to me again! The fuck is wrong with you!?"

Lazarus program? Seriously? What kind of world do we live in? As true as what Crosby just told us, Rachel story about Divine was all lie. How possibly of a good liar can Rachel be? And an agent for Chrysalis? Interesting, but questionable. It was no wonder Rachel knew so much about Chrysalis. Exactly how many more terrible truths have learned in one day? First the world coming to an end again, then Crosby leading Neo-Chrysalis, now Rachel brought back from the dead by Chrysalis themselves. Whatever scam I had scene back at the junkyard with Chloe, why didn't the police ever catch it? Chrysalis must be great at conning people as they are great at people virtually entering the fantasy of Elysium. Crosby clapped his hands by how Chloe reacted to Rachel's truth and chuckled again.

"Hey, look on the bright side, Chloe," said Crosby. "We all get duped once in a lifetime. She pulled a Houdini on you and brought Max and her low-life lover into the mix and I cannot lie, Rachel, that really pissed me off. But you know what? All behind us now."

"You won't get away with this," said Rachel.

"By the looks of things, I've already have. Last I checked you're all tied up and kneeled to the ground. It's what you get for meddling around with things you shouldn't. And you, Max, you'll no longer have to worry shit happening to you or Chloe. You'll never have to go rewinding again in two days. In two days, perhaps Chloe will get to see her real father again, William Price, in Elysium. Ask yourself, is harmony not preferable to tragedy? Answer my question, please."

Jefferson once asked as he had. In a reality where I had been concealed in the dark room myself. The evil Crosby bends down and looks to me eye to eye awaiting his answer. I give Crosby a menacing stare and the same answer I gave Jefferson while tied to a chair in the dark room.

"Eat shit and die!" I snap.

"Good answer," he replied. "Good answer. Take them all back to their cell. I will deal with them all later."

The mercs put bags over our heads again and escort us back to the cell. Even after everything Crosby has done to me ever so kindly, I was going to end him the moment I got out of this. Yes I was. Yes siree.

 **Note: So incase no one ever believed in Rachel's story from episode 3 to begin with, I can't blame you. Great call back from Polarized when Max told Crosby to eat shit and down now was it? If you were paying attention, Rachel had worked as an agent for Chrysalis for after she was brought back to life and before she returned to the bay. I once mentioned in my notes that I was interesting in doing an anthology story before season 3. And yes, I wanted it to be about Rachel's time with Chrysalis.**

 **BTW, I wanted to post two chapters in one day at the same time posting my last episode. Like to get a decent head start for this premiere. So I started writing the first a few days back and went straight to writing chapter 2 before posting this. Thank you very much.**

 **Until next time, stay golden!**

 **P.S. A little birdie may have leaked an LIS prequel on the internet about Rachel and Chloe's story before Max. Just saying.**


	3. Blind Betrayal

Chapter 3 Blind Betrayal

Chloe

April 22, 2014

10:14 PM

Tillamook Forest

Tillamook Saw Mill

The guard removes the bag over my head and throws me back into the cell. I land on my back when the guard tosses me back in with my hands restrained. Then the guards do the same with Max, Rachel, Frank, and Warren. And then they slam the door shut leaving the five of us in the dark. We're now locked inside a dark cell. Thanks to Rachel's betrayal.

I couldn't believe my ears when Crosby told us the truth about Rachel. Even after everything I trusted her for, even after making her promise she was sworn to keep, she just couldn't stop lying to my face. I stare at that traitorous bitch when she's tossed inside. I feel a rage coming on. I just wanted to fuck that back-stabbing cunt so bad, I actually do.

"You!" I shout to my ex. "You back-stabbing cunt! You set us up!"

I hump on her ass and come at her. I hit her ass so hard with my retrained fist like a sledgehammer until I let all my rage out. Rachel tries shielding my bounded fists with hers as I fuck her up. God, why do I even bother with this bitch?

"You lied to me again, Rachel! You fucking betrayed us all!"

"Chloe, settle down!" shouted Max. "The guards will hear!"

"I should've never have trusted you! You should've never have come back!"

"Chloe, knock it off!" shouted Warren. "Will you!?"

"Thanks to you, we're all dead! We're doomed! We're fucked!"

"Chloe, shut up!" snapped Frank.

"Don't you fucking tell me to shut up, you low-life trailer trash! This bitch played us all! She was working for that double-crossing Crosbitch all along! I'm not the bad girl here!"

"Chloe, we get it! Alright?!" snapped Max. "She betrayed us. But lashing out on her won't change what she did."

"I don't need you to say anything for me, Max. She lured us over to those monsters and her bullshit story about LA and Jack Divine. 'Here it goes, Chloe. I went to LA and started living dream with the great Jack Divine. You should've been there to see it all.' You just can't stop bullshitting me, can you?"

"You're right, Chloe," admitted Rachel. "I can't. But what else was I supposed to say? How do you just tell your ex you were resurrected by Chrysalis and worked as an agent?"

"I don't know, Rachel! How bout just saying it! How hard can that be!"

"I knew how you'd react is how hard."

"React to what? React to the truth or the lies you spit out, huh? Which one's easier to react to?"

"Well at least I wasn't lying when I told you I thought I knew what to say but didn't on your doorstep, Chloe."

"Fuck you, Rachel. You didn't think you knew what you were going to say but didn't. You just didn't have the balls to spit the truth is what happened. God, I never asked for this. I never asked to live. I never asked to be saved. I should've died that day! Why couldn't Nathan just shoot me in that bathroom!?"

"Chloe Price, how fucking dare you!" muttered Max. "Are you listening to yourself? Have you forgotten that I never had to let you die that day to begin with, huh? Were you even listening to Crosby when he said that he's the one who killed six-hundred Arcadians just to divert people from knowing he was about to go hellbent on intertwining Elysium on this planet and taking over the universe!?"

"I don't care, Max! I refuse to live through this! Even after my father's death, five years apart from you and I, and our crisis Rachel and I risked our lives for you, it's just never enough for me isn't? I just want someone to put myself out of my misery right now. I'm better off being killed by a poor little rich raised by a hypocritical narcissists than being brought into a fate worse than death!"

"Chloe, I would take that back if I were you! Right now!"

"Why should I!?"

"Because you said it yourself on that stand in court. You were grateful to be alive and that's that!"

"I've had a lot to take back in life, Max. Give me one reason I should that back."

"I would take a bullet for you, Chloe. I wasn't fucking with you when I told you I would die for you in that bathroom that night, you know. I really wasn't."

"Am I supposed to be persuaded by nightmares you have, Max? Because I'm not. Why should I?"

"You think I'm bullshitting you the way Rachel had? Nightmares or not, it was real to me. I don't know how, I don't know why, I don't care. Your the last person I want to see to die. You wouldn't even guess how many bullets I've seen you taken, Chloe. I rather see you dodge a bullet and myself bite the dust from Nathan's bullet with your name on it, than watch you die like a fucking animal a dozen times. Either way, the fact that my powers don't summon cyclones in the air, we'd both die for nothing. All the more reason tearing that Polaroid in half, unaware that the so-called Project Cyclone was responsible, was the right and most obvious call considered. You can't possibly fathom sacrificing yourself was the better call. Why can't you just accept the fact that shit happens to us and it could be so much worse?"

"Oh, it's already worse, Max. Take a good look around. Thanks to Rachel's betrayal, we're all locked up in a shit hole while Crosbitch is out there taking over the world with his commie a-holes. If I had your power, Max, or Rachel's, or anyone of yours, I would go back and change everything from this ever happening! Everything!"

"Hey!" shouted Frank. "Why don't you quit pointing fingers at your two girlfriends, little Miss Poor Me, and not forget that there are two other people in this cell who you've dragged into this fantasy of time travel and terrorism and start thinking about other people for once! I could've stayed my ass back in Arcadia in my nice warm caravan with Pompidou and for the record, Rachel, I'd be reacting the same way your ex is right now. Not only did you lie about this bullshit story to Chloe, you lied about it to me. When you swore to me on our relationship bracelet you wouldn't. And I've left my poor Pompidou behind. Maybe Chloe's right about you. You really are a back-stabbing cunt."

"He's right you know, gals," said Warren. "You all could've left my ass out of this and I would've had a better time with Brooke, Kate, and the other during the field trip instead getting my ass kidnapped with you guys! And you destroyed my drone! Now we all got to hope David and the others find out we're missing. Halle-fucking-lujah, everyone. Congratulations. The world is ending and we'll all end with it. There's goes our field trip. This heist of ours was all for nothing."

"You know what everyone," began Rachel. "Just stop talking for one minute and hear me out. I don't care if you believe and think I'm bullshitting you all, but it's true as my word are spoken. Being brought back to life by Chrysalis was the easiest part. Working for Chrysalis is nothing compared to what your all bickering about right now. I have been all over this globe fighting the worst quantum terrorist that ever lived just so I could see you all again. And then I have to risk my life once more in Arcadia Bay so Max could win her case. So Chloe, just for once, stop bitching about how life could've been than what it is now and just show some gratitude for all the good I've done for you despite my deception! Will you!?"

"All the good you've done for me," I say. "And for what? So you could rat us out and get Max and I chloroformed and abducted here? What's the point in repaying the good you've done only to betray the promise you made at that mansion? Easy for you to be the know-it-all because you think you can get away with lying all the time. I'm done believing what you have to say."

"Why would you lie to us, Rachel?" asked Max. "Was it really necessary to make up some story about this Jack Divine thing of yours? And why would you set us up like this? How does someone like you get brought back to life by Chrysalis and work as an agent for them?"

"Truth be told, the thing between Chrysalis and I is a long story," said Rachel. "What Crosby said was true. The last thing I remember in that dark room was Nathan injecting me with an overdose. The first thing I remember waking up from my coma was lying down on a table in some morgue they had at HQ being dressed up in a gown. They knew about my powers and wanted me to be an agent. They trained me, gave me some place to live in Portland, and sent me on missions to stop terrorist. When they told me I was free to go, that's when I came back."

"What exactly did you do with Chrysalis if you worked as an agent for them?" Max asked.

"Like I said, long story that I don't think I can make short," she answered. "Chloe, I know you don't have any reason to believe me. I know I've been selfish and naive to you and everyone else, but I never wanted to hurt you. Not on purpose. You can't rule out that I've actually done some good for you once in a lifetime and it isn't fair to just say that I would betray you on purpose. Please, Chloe. I know I couldn't keep my promise from before, but this time I will. This time I swear on our friendship that I promise for sure. I really do."

 **X/SQUARE/LM - FORGIVE RACHEL**

 **B/CIRCLE/RM - REJECT RACHEL**

"You betray me twice, and somehow...I'm now forgiving you twice. But only because now since the world is ending and we all just might end with it, at least I'll die knowing that the friend who betrayed me still loved me. I've got nothing else to say, Rachel. I really don't."

Before anyone else could say a word, we all of a sudden hear gunfire and distant voice that sound content. Everyone has their heads raised and alert. I stare at the door where sounds come from.

"You hear that?" asked Max. "What's happening out there?"

 _"Madsen, the signals coming from through this door,"_ said a voice from the other side.

 _"Open the door! My step-daughter's in there!"_ another voice shouted.

"David?" I say to myself.

The cell unlocks and opens to reveal Chrysalis soldiers with guns and flashlights coming to the rescue.

"They're here!" a soldier shouts. "We have them! They're inside!"

The soldier kindly lower their weapons and cut us free from our restraints. Talk about convenience. We're saved.

"We'll aren't you boys a sight for sore eyes," said Frank. "Just when we thought we were trapped in this cell forever."

"Tell me about it," said Warren.

As soon as I and everyone else is freed from their restraints, I see David and Captain Cage enter the room. David was carrying a rifle and wearing a tactical vest. When we see each other eye to eye, David runs inside in relief.

"Chloe! There you are!" he shouted in excitement.

"David! You came!" I shout back.

My step Dad gives me a real tight hug. Knowing that I'm safe and sound.

"Oh, thank goodness your alright! Your mother and I thought we lost you! Where were you and what the hell happened!?"

"We got kidnapped by the same goons that attacked the expo is what happened. How did you find us anyway?"

"Oh, well, we traced a signal on Rachel's phone or something. We'd figured we find you here."

"Wait, you mean..."

"I put a tracker on my phone so David would find us," said Rachel. "You trust me now?"

"Thanks for coming back for us, David," said Max. "Took you long enough to find us. We owe you."

"Well, you have Rachel to thank for her cleverness," admitted David. "Let's get you guys and gals out of here."

"HQ, this is Cage," said Captain on his comm. "We have the hostages. Moving out to secure the captives for evac immediately."

 _"Roger that Captain. Advise you move out of there and secure the captives ASAP. You've got Neo-Chrysalis forces advancing reinforcements to your position."_

"Copy that. Cage out."

 **Note: So yeah, my anthology story is going to be about Rachel working as an agent for Chrysalis. With some flashbacks to go along with it. Otherwise, I may end up writing the flashbacks for my oneshots when I start writing them. Either way, I may write a chapter or two for my anthology story during or after the completion of season two as well as my oneshots. Though I might write my first oneshot during the completion rather than after or I might not. The oneshots will consists of deleted scenes from my stories, backstory for characters, etc.**

 **Until next time, stay tuned!**


	4. Desperate Escape

Chapter 4 Desperate Escape

Max

April 22, 2014

10:24 PM

Tillamook Forest

Tillamook Saw Mill

David and Captain Cage, along with their squad of soldiers liberate us from our cell and escort us through the halls of the outpost. The five of us were going to need weapons for defense. So we take some weapons from the mercs the soldiers had shot down to get to us and follow their lead. Rachel and Frank loot themselves some assault rifles. Warren picks himself up a Micro SMG. Chloe grabs herself a rifle and I as well. David never liked us using guns the we did during our heist, but he felt we were mature enough to use them at the very least.

"Now do you trust me, Chloe?" asked Rachel. "Now do you have a reason to forgive me since I helped David find us here?"

"We can talk about it later, Rachel," said "Trust is defined by actions. Not words."

"It was her actions, Chloe," I said. "Not her words. You have every right to forgive her deception."

 _"HQ to Alpha, enemy reinforcement have just arrived. Be advised, you will have armored vehicles and choppers to be dealt with."_

"Roger that HQ," said Cage on comm. "In the meantime, we'll be proceeding through the saw mill to secure Caulfield and the others. Alpha out."

"We should split up or something," suggested Rachel. "We'll have better odds that way."

"Madsen, take some of my men with you to defend your daughter and Caulfield," said Cage. "The rest of us will go separate ways and clear the way. Amber, if you want to come us, suit yourself."

"No shit," said Rachel. "Let's go Frankie boy. Time to show you how your girlfriend really kicks ass."

"Hey what about me?" asked Warren. "I'm still part of this group right?"

"If you want to come with us too, Warren, don't stick around," said Rachel.

Rachel, Frank, and Warren go with Captain Cage and his men he take with him. Chloe and I come along with David and some other soldiers that were there for our assistance. Rachel's groups takes one route out of the outpost, my group takes another. After we split, I needed to tell David about Crosby and his plans to attack Portland. His plot to use Project Elysium as Neo-Chrysalis's super weapon to destroy the world and intertwine Elysium with our world.

"David, we need to tell you something very severe," I say.

"Now's not the best time, Max," said David. "Save it for later."

"We need to tell you now, David. We now who's behind all this!"

"Just hold that thought, Max! We're about to encounter some heat here, so you two get behind me and get ready to fight."

Our group enters a logging area where mercenaries are scattered to take us out. We walk into the area on catwalk ready for combat. Once the bullets start flying, Chloe, David, and I grab some cover on the catwalk and we fight along with the soldiers that were part of the group. The mercs fire they're guns at us and we fire back.

David's shooting skills were great. For an Afghan veteran, and a lieutenant commander in the marines, he was a real sharp shooter when fighting off the mercs. Chloe appeared to have some game too. She'd been killing every merc in her sights without even missing. The same kind of skill she showed off back at the expo. I'm usually used to seeing her shoot bottles with a pistol back in the junkyard. Now I'm seeing her kick ass with a UMP-45. I alone was able to shoot some baddies with a battle riffle too.

We shoot our way down the step and Chloe and I grab some side arms in case we're low on ammo or we can't reload our rifles in time. While fighting alongside the friendly Chrysalis troopers and killing more mercs, we then had to fight some tougher opponents. While Chloe, David, and I were fighting on lower ground and the soldiers took the high ground, they were all instantly picked off by mercs in hazmat-ware and thruster packs. These mercs were none other than Neo-Chrysalis's own striker unit. The same kind of strikers I had fought on the Blackwell grounds during the shooting. Only they were the good guys. This time, I was fighting the ones belonging to the evil guys.

The strikers had clipped down our backup and boost-jumped their way down off the catwalk to finish us off. These striker were no different than the ones Chrysalis has. A pain in the ass and tough to kill is what they were. Chrysalis strikers and Neo-Chrysalis strikers were all the same. At least I was the girl with the superpowers with better odds at fighting them.

"Who the hell are these guys!?" shouted David, taking cover from fire. "They're too fast for me to shoot!"

"Strikers!" I shout. "I encountered guys like these back at Blackwell! Only they belonged to Chrysalis and not Neo-Chrysalis!"

"And they're a pain in the ass to shoot!" shouted Chloe. "And they just took out our back up! We could really use your super powers right now, Max! Anytime!"

Without think twice, I time dash over to one the strikers, grabbed his gun, kicked him in the knee, knocked him down with his gun, and shot him with his automatic weapon. I deal with the other striker by shooting his thruster pack down from behind him, causing a blow to force in the air and neutralize him. Like shooting off a fuel pack off a flamethrower causing it's user to be killed in an exploding fire. Then the strikers were dealt with and the room was clean. We were on our own without any soldiers to back us up.

"Those striker dickheads really know how to piss me off," said Chloe. "I'm getting sick fighting these cheeky bastards already."

"So, Max," said David. "Mind telling me how you two got wound up in here and what's going on?"

"About that, David," I say. "We know who's behind all this. It's Crosby. He's leading Neo-Chrysalis and he's played us this entire time."

"Did you just say Crosby was the one behind this? How?"

"We don't know how, but we know that he's behind the time fracture. Crosby had been using Prescott as a scapegoat to make him look bad. He told us he's planned to use Project Elysium as a super weapon to intertwine their fantasy world into ours thinking it'll save us from the end of time or something. When really it'll destroy our world in of itself."

"Not to mention he's got super powers just like, Max's," said Chloe. "That's how he was able to know so much. Plus, he once had a friendly relationship with Jefferson from Blackwell and his dark room scheme. Plus, Rachel's story about Jack Divine is bullshit. Crosby had Rachel's death faked and had Chrysalis resurrect her. It's a longer story after that."

"Oh, sweet Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," said David. "Why do I even bother trusting other people with you two anymore."

"There's no time to argue, David," I said. "We have to get out of here and stop Crosby."

"Cage, this is Madsen," said David comm. "Your soldier just got nailed by some guys in jetpacks that zig-zag around. What's your status?"

 _"Damn strikers. We're pinned down in the logging areas of the mill but that Rachel girl is evening the odds."_

"Understood. I'll be protecting the girls on my own. Thanks to Max, my daughter and I feel much safer with her super powers too. We'll meet you at the extraction point. Madsen out."

The three of us proceed through the saw mill and find a door the leads into an office. Chloe and I stand between the corners of the door with our guns in hand and David kicks the door open to the office. We enter the office armed and ready only to see the man in midnight-ware himself. Derrick Crosby was in the office overlooking the windows. He turned his head towards us to see us barge in with our guns. The man gives us a smirk with his shades overshadowing his eyes.

"Crosby!" I mutter.

"Well, this is unexpected," said Crosby with a maniacal tone.

"So, it was you," muttered David. "I should've figured you'd stab us in the back! You're looking a bit out of character in those clothes and out of place in this outpost."

"On the contrary," said Crosby. "I'm well within my true colors and have come to the right place here. How lovely to see you again, Mr. Madsen."

"You son of a bitch!" muttered Chloe. "We won't let you win! We will stop you!"

"You can't stop me, Chloe. Soon you will all embrace the inevitability of a new era. Your world will fall and Elysium will rise from beyond aeturnum. We will win this struggle to save everyone from the end of time. It's only a matter of time."

"If your so confident that you'll start this new era," I begin. "You'll just have to get through us then."

Crosby gives us one last evil smile before we open fire. We unload our pistol on the villainous Crosby, but our bullets are less than reliable. Crosby time dashes past the first bullets fired towards him. Then dashes past the other. The man in the midnight suit constantly zigs when our bullets zag via his time dash and slowly approaches our position in performing his Matrix-esque stunts.

The man in black latex dashed in front us, used his time stop to stutter David's movements in time stasis, and threw punches at me in the face until I was knocked down. Then dashed his way to Chloe where he dodged her bullets, seized her by the throat, and pinned her against the wall to suffocate her. And then David's stasis field wore off rendering him unfrozen in time. He was then able to stop Crosby from asphyxiating his daughter by throwing a fist at him, but not before Crosby could release Chloe and dodge the punch David had thrown.

David attempted to throw a few kicks and punches at Crosby, but kept missing his hits the more his opponent swung himself backward to dodge David's striking moves. Then Crosby gripped David's fist with his gloved hand to counterstrike his punch, twirl his arm around, and strike him in the face. David was able to throw him a kick before being fully disemboweled, but Crosby countered and held his leg together and was about to break it. Not before I got up and started firing my pistol on him again. Crosby pushed David to the side, dodged my bullets, and performed a side flip when dodge one of my bullets.

My clip was dry. I made a run for Crosby to attempt to fight him hand to hand. Then David rushed in to fight him hand to hand again and failed terribly. Even I had failed terribly too. I just threw a pathetic punch at him too predictable for a cunning warrior and he just counters it and pushes me fifteen feet across the room and I hit the wall and collapse to the ground.

Crosby was a powerful opponent. Jefferson was one man to teabag, but this man was no joke. For someone as expendable as Jefferson and the Prescotts under the sun, Crosby was the real king of the hill scrapping the bottom of the barrel. The real big fish in the small pond. I wasn't necessarily an entirely skilled and trained fighter with my powers as Rachel was, but even if I had, we would all be outmatched by Crosby regardless.

The man continued fighting David and beating him to the punch. Then he held him by the neck, slid his body across the desk, and threw him over by the windows. I tried getting up on my feet and see David was in peril. Crosby walked over to his downed opponent and grabbed him by the neck again to finish him.

"No!" I shout.

David struggled against Crosby's grasp. It was useless. Crosby was now about to give David one last finishing blow before the fight was over.

"Let's finish this," said Crosby holding on to David.

I use my time rush to dash my way to the other side of the room, catch Crosby by the arms, and throw ourselves out the window. When we bust through the glass, I immediately hang on to the edge of the broken window as Crosby falls completely off the railing and plummets into a stack of wooden crates. I hang as tight as I could until David assists me to help.

"Max, take my hand!" he yells.

I take his hand and he helps me off the edge of the railing. I look through the shattered window to see if Crosby was still down there.

"Did we get him?" asks David.

"I don't know," I said. "I can't see."

There was no sign of Crosby's body where he landed on the crates he smashed through when he fell. Crosby had vanished without a trace. Meaning he was still alive somewhere and survived the fall. We rushed over to Chloe who was down on the floor catching her breath from being choked to death by Crosby.

"Chloe, you okay?" I ask.

"I'm fine, Max," she answered catching her breath. "Did we get him?"

"I don't think so, Chloe," said David helping his daughter up. "I think we lost him."

 _"David, it's Rachel! Come in, David!"_

"I'm here, Rachel. What is it?"

 _"I'm with Captain Cage and Warren. Mercenaries got us pinned down out in the logging yard. We need you, Max, and Chloe out here ASAP!"_

"We'll be right there with you. Is Frank with you?"

 _"I don't know where the fuck he went. We got separated in the mill. Just get your asses out here now!"_

We race our way outside to the logging yard in response of Rachel's SOS. We see Rachel, Warren, and Captain Cage fighting with Chrysalis troop in the yard. Taking cover behind some crates and concrete fences. There were LMG trucks in the yard unloaded on the squad. We took cover with Rachel group just in time for back up.

"Look who decided to show their faces!" shouted Rachel. "We LMG trucks front and center!"

"What do you want us to do about it?!" I shout.

"We'd want you to get rid of them is what!"

Captain Cage takes out a grenade from his pouch and tosses it over to the one of the trucks. The grenade lands under the truck and it explodes into ash. Killing the gunner and it's driver. Then Cage tosses me a weapon to use against the other truck.

"Here, use this!" he shouts.

Cage had tossed me a China Lake grenade launcher to destroy the other truck. I don't hesitate but to aim the grenade launcher at the trucks itself and fire away. The grenade I fired hit's the LMG truck and blows it away into an explosion. Two down on the ground. Then to cause more trouble, an attack chopper with mini-guns and rocket approaches us in the air and starts firing on us with it's guns.

"Great, now they've got an attack chopper!" shouted Warren. "What do we do now!?"

"Max, use the grenade launcher and blow that bitch out of the air!" shouted Chloe.

I pump the grenade launcher for another round and fire another grenade at the chopper. The assault chopper explodes into smithereens like a firework. Leaving nothing else but debris falling down from the destroyed flying vehicle.

"Fuck yeah!" shouts Chloe.

But then to make matters more atrocious, a truck carrying to men in mech suits armed with gabbling guns drives into the yard and drops the two juggernauts front and center. We were now in for some deep shit and completely devastated in this firefight. The juggernaut fired up their mini-guns

"Great, just what he need!" shouted Chloe. "Twidledee and Twidledum! Now what the fuck are we supposed to do!"

"Caulfield, use your grenade launcher!" shouted Cage. "Now!"

"I'm out of grenades!" I shout. "We're fucked!"

At least we thought we were until someone came to the rescue. A rocket had fired out of nowhere that hit the ground between the two juggernauts blowing them away and incinerating them in the explosion. The shot of the rocket had come from up on the roof above us. It was none other than Frank Bowers wearing an exo suit and carrying an RPG over his shoulder who had come to the rescue.

"Whoo! The Calvary's in the house bitches!" shouted Frank.

"Frank? Where the fuck have you been?!" asked Rachel. "And where did you get that exo armor?"

"What? No thank you? I've been wanting to do this my whole life, babe. I was born to where this shit and shoot some a-holes with a rocket propelled gun. Ha ha."

Without another moment to spare, our evac had arrived. A Chrysalis military hummer had drove in ready to pick us up for evac. There were other vehicles the drove in for exfil to pick up everyone else. Our driver driving the hummer we were riding in stepped out to call for us.

"Came here as fast as we could, Cage!" shouted the driver. "Let's get out of here!"

"I call shotgun," said Frank.

David steps inside the front passenger seat of the hummer. Rachel and Warren get in the back. Frank gets on the Mark 19 grenade turret on the hummer. Still wearing his exo suit he stole. Chloe and I get on the mini-turrets on the rear of the hummer. Our evac wasn't going to be a straight up walk in the park. There was going to be a lot of heat on the road to be dealt with. No questions asked.

"Hey, Chloe," said Rachel getting on.

"What?"

"I'm not sorry for lying to you again. But I am sorry for setting you and everyone else up."

"For what it's worth, apology accepted. Hey, Max."

"What?"

"I didn't mean what I said back there in that cell. I was only being the same old me again from that week. I take it back severely. I'm proud you saved me and I mean that."

"No worries, Chloe. I'm glad you're able to take it all back. Now let's get this show on the road."

 **Note: Well folks, it's becoming a faster paced episode than Polarized ever was now isn't it? The next chapter may be a long one. The action of this episode doesn't end here. Oh no it doesn't. Writing action in this story has become a challenge for me and since the next chapter may be a long one. It may be a day or two before it's posted. I still have a long ways to go in completing this finale, but I'll keep up the good work.**

 **Until next time, stay golden!**


	5. Heat

Chapter 5 Heat

Chloe

April 22, 2014

10:47 PM

Tillamook Forest

Route 6

It was time to roll the thunder. Our hummer departs from the saw mill outpost and drives along with the other vehicles. The Chrysalis unit was expected to encounter resistance on the road, but with two mini-turrets and a Mark 19 grenade turret equipped with our hummer, our odds were sure to be in our favor. I don't know why Frank was still where that badass but ridiculous exo suit while on the Mark 19. I've never seen Frank this cocky before in my life.

 _"You guys on without us,"_ said Captain Cage on comms. _"Our transports will defend some resistance while you find yourselves a safe place away from the enemy lines."_

"Roger that, Captain," said David. "I'll be sure to inform HQ."

"The name's Jerry by the way folks," said the driver. "I'll be your driver to safety."

"Hey, Jerry," said Rachel. "Take us to Kettle Lake Lodge. That will be our safe house to go to."

"Alright, how far is it?" asked Jerry.

"It can't be far off now. Just keep heading down the road and we should be there in ten minutes. Got that?"

"You got it, sweetheart."

"HQ, this is David Madsen. Captain Cage and his convoy are going separate ways to clean up some resistance off road. My team and I are on route to Kettle Lake Lodge with the captives we rescued where we'll be taking shelter. ETA ten minutes."

 _"Roger that, Madsen. Be aware that they'll be heavy resistance coming down the road. So you better pick up the pace and get to the lodge fast."_

"Wilco, Madsen out."

And not a moment too soon, the resistance had come to wipe us off the road. Trucks carrying Neo-Chrys mercs and jeeps with LMGs came racing down the road to shoot us down from the rear of our vehicle. Luckily, Max and I were on the turrets mounted on the rear of our hummer. It was time to take down some of the heat off our ass.

"Guys, we got company!" I shout. "You better get ready for this shit!"

"Use the LMGs to take those bastards out!" shouted Rachel.

"No shit!" Max shouts.

Max and I light up our LMGs and fire away. Blasting away every last enemy vehicle trying to blow us away. I'm able to shoot off some boogies on trucks and jeeps. I shoot an LMG jeep's engine out setting off an explosion and causing it tumble and total itself on the road. Causing it to hit another vehicle on the road into a chain reaction. Then a truck carrying mercs pulls up to the other side of the road with mercs shooting our guns at us. And then trucks drives closer to ram us off the road.

"You girls got to shoot that truck down!" shouted Jerry. "It's gonna ram us off the road."

Before we could get an angle on the truck. Frank use his grenade launcher mounted on the top of the hummer to blow the truck off the road. Frank fires a grenade or two at the truck and it explodes like a fire a cracker on the road. The Mark 19 was a more powerful tool to use then our LMGs.

"Holy shit!" shouted Warren, reacting to the explosion.

"Ha ha ha! You don't fuck with Frank Bowers, Austin Powers!" the man in the mech armor exclaimed.

"Don't get cocky, Frankie!" shouted Rachel. "We've got more boogies, six-o-clock!"

Now there were mercs on dirt bikes driving off and on the road shooting at us and more LMG jeeps, and more carrier trucks incoming. And just to put another rock in the road, an assault helicopter was now flying over us to give us even more hell. Now the pressure had gotten even hotter with death from above.

"It just keeps getting better, doesn't it!?" asked Max.

"Whoever's on the Mark 19, concentrate your fire on that chopper!" shouted Jerry. "You girls take out those trucks and bikes off the road now!"

While Max and I take some of the heat off the road, Frank uses the Mark 19 to trying and shoot the assault chopper out of the air. But Frank couldn't get a good angle on the chopper itself. The arch of the grenade fire couldn't reach the helicopter's distance. Although, the two of us on the machine guns took care of all the bikers and truckers, we still had an air beast firing rockets and bullets over us. We weren't going to last much longer out here if the chopper hadn't been done away with anytime soon.

We enter a tunnel on the road and there was an opening in the tunnel where the chopper could fly over to the side by the opening and shoot us down. And it did. Frank still tried shooting it down with the grenade turret, but there were pillar beams in the way and he had shot those down instead.

"Frank, there's a chopper in the air still trying to blow us up!" I shout. "We could really use some assistance right about now!"

"I'm trying bitch!" shouted Frank. "But those supports are in the fucking way!"

A mercenary riding a dirt bike drove over to the side of the hummer. Rachel had an idea on how to take care of the chopper. But it wasn't a very good one.

Rachel

April 22, 2014

10:53 PM

Tillamook Forest

Route 6

I open the door to my passenger seat and I jump straight onto the bike itself. Then I kick the driver out and hijack the bike. Something not everyone appreciates, but Rachel's got to do what Rachel's got to do.

"Rachel, what are doing!?" shouted Warren.

"Rachel, get your ass back in the hummer now!" shouted Frank.

"Rachel, what the fuck do you think your doing!?" shouted Chloe.

"Trust me!" I shout back on the bike. "I have an idea!"

"Rachel, don't leave me babe!" shouted Frank. "Come back!"

"Well that girl's just reckless, isn't she?!" asked Max.

I drive the bike away from the hummer and out of the tunnel. My idea was to take down chopper with a little practicality. If I could somehow gain a closer distance to the chopper and take it out with me time blast, we could finish the job with ease.

 _"Rachel, what they hell do you think you're doing!?"_ asked David on comms. _"Get back in here now!"_

"Trust me, David," I say. "Tell everyone I know how to take the chopper out. I've got this."

I drive the dirt bike off road and up a hill towards a narrow bridge over the road where the attacking helicopter flies over head. The assault chopper looked like it wanted to shoot down the bridge to block the path of the hummer. Not before I could do anything about it. I race the bike over to the bridge attempting to make a jump for the enemy chopper. Once I drive the bike on the bridge, I use my time blast to spin the helicopter out of control and once I'm close enough, I make a big jump off the side of the bridge and hang onto the gun of the chopper as it spins out of control. Now all I needed to do was finish the job, but I wasn't going to do it alone.

"Frank, use the Mark 19 to blow this thing sky high!" I shout on comm. Hanging onto the gun as tight as I could.

 _"Are you crazy!?"_ he shouted on comm. _"You'll die if I trying blowing that thing out of the air!"_

"Do it now!"

The hummer approaches the spinning chopper and Frank is able to get a good arc with his grenades he fires. As soon as the grenades hit chopper and does some damage, I make my timing count and jump off the chopper attempting to land back on the hummer. I land on the roof of the military car next to where frank commandeers the grenade turret and hang on to the side. The assault chopper was now of fire from the damage it took from the grenades and was now descending it's altitude. Then eventually grounding itself to a crash landing as it hits the ground and explodes. The chopper was now out of sight and out of mind. I get back inside my seat after hanging on to the side of the vehicle.

"Holy wowsers, Rachel," said Max. "You did not just do that!"

"The fuck were you thinking, babe?!" shouted Frank. "I could've killed you on that chopper!"

"Why don't I ever get any thank yous around here?!" I mutter. "I'm no stunt double, but at least we'll no longer be facing a certain death from above."

Max

April 22, 2014

11:04 PM

Kettle Lake Lodge

Route 6

So far, this ride was yet another Michael Bay action chase sequence from Bad Boys. And so far, my life has become so Hollywood-esque since the day of the unorthodox Blackwell shooting. I was starting to getting used to my life as an action movie star already. From Arnold Schwarzenegger as the T-800 to Silvester Stallone as John Rambo to Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt to Bruce Willis as John McClane, etc. The Arcadia Michael Bay Last Action Hero fits title well enough for me. The title says it all.

We finally reach Rachel's lodge and Jerry stops the hummer to drop us off. Every one of us hops out except for Jerry. Frank still wears his exo armor when he gets off. Frankie had looked like the Incredible Hulk in his armor. I wonder how he was able to wear that heavy ass armor while riding in the hummer.

"I'll inform HQ and tell them I've dropped you off," said Jerry from his driver seat.

"No problem, tell them we're safe and sound," said David.

And so Jerry took off with the hummer and left us at the lodge for safety. Finally away from that catastrophe.

"Well...that was satisfying back there," said Chloe. "And a hella long ride from hell that is."

"Where in the hell did you get that armor, Frank?" asked Rachel. "Was it really necessary to steal some borderline exo suit from terrorist?"

"You freakin' A right it was," replied Frank. "Check me out. This armor gives me the power of the Incredible Hulk and the robot giants from Pacific Rim combined. It's the future."

"You kind of remind of those Brotherhood of Steel guys from Fallout," said Warren. "Just in my opinion that is."

"I think Rachel's got a point, Frank," said David. "I don't think it's a good idea to just be looting some terrorist equipment to wear for fun and games. There's nothing fun about contraband."

"Contraband or not, I've dreamt of wearing this shit since I was a little shit," said Frank. "I've spent my whole life as trailer trash selling drugs and weed for a living. Meaning I've spent my lifetime doing illegal stuff and if I can get away with all that, why not this? I know I might not be talking your word seriously here, but I'm keeping this. I'm keeping this armor."

 _"HQ to Madsen. We have confirmation of enemy resistance under our radar advancing to your location. I suggest finding a way to hold them off for as long as you can."_

"What? I thought Captain Cage and his men were supposed to hold them back?" asked David on comm.

 _"Affirmative, but some of the resistance managed to give the Captain and his unit a wide birth. You'll either have to relocate or find a way to hold them back. I would make a decision fast. HQ out."_

"Well that's just freakin amazeballs!" muttered Chloe. "We just got done taking the heat off the road and now they want us cool the heat down here!"

"Now I've got a better reason to wear this armor," said Frank.

"So now what do we do?" I ask. "We might as well relocate since there's nothing here to defend ourselves with."

"Actually, we do," said Rachel. "Follow me. I've got an armory down in the basement."

 **Note: Well, I had thought about extending this chapter to where they defend the lodge from the terrorist, but decided to write it as a separate chapter. Remember how long Chapter 13 of Episode 2 was? That chapter took way too much time to write. It had taken 2 weeks to write with a length of over 11,000 words and 28 pages. The chapter could've easily been divided in two separate chapter instead of having the whole Blackwell shooting and chase sequence crammed in one chapter. So I guess it's a mistake learned for this episode. Not saying this chapter would've been extra long as that one, I'm saying it was decision I had to make. But don't you worry, the action does not stop here.**

 **Until next time stay golden!**


	6. Clear

Chapter 6 Clear

Rachel

April 22, 2014

11:09 PM

10 Miles From Arcadia Bay

Kettle Lake Lodge

Everyone follows me over to my armory stocked in my basement. We could hear the stomping of Frank in his heavy exo suit louder than the Incredible Hulk himself. I open the doors outside to my basement and show off all of my borderline artillery I had in stock for everyone. From automatic assault rifles to sniper rifles to LMGs to you name em all.

"Everyone grab what you need and prepare yourselves for battle," I say.

"Whoa," said Warren.

"Fucking wowser, sister," said Max. "Where did you get all this WWIII junk?"

"I must confess everyone. I didn't get all this junk making easy money walking around and looking pretty in LA. Chrysalis was the manufacturer to supplement my arsenal."

"Not surprised, Rachel," said Chloe. "Not surprised."

"I'm surprised, babe," said Frank. "Just when I though I've marked the end of my Christmas list. First I get an exo suit and my lioness is stocked with an artillery prepped and ready to go to war with ISIS. Or should I say Neo-Chrysalis that is?"

"Chrysalis actually authorized you to carry this much weaponry in your basement?" questioned David.

"What can I say? Once an agent, always an agent."

"What do you mean an agent?"

"Long story short, David," said Chloe. "Her whole Jack Divine story is bullshit, by the way. You can ask her about it later."

"What?"

"Guys, there's army of terrorist coming here to kill us in a few minutes," reminded Max. "Less talking, more stocking!"

"When this is over," said Frank. "I'm gonna paint some nice big letters that say 'My Beans' on my badass exo suit."

Everyone starts picking a weapon of choice in the armory. Max picks out a FAL rifle. Chloe picks out a P90. Warren picks a vector K10. David picks a Scar-H. Frank picks an M249 Saw LMG. My weapon of choice is an M200 Intervention sniper rifle. Once we're all locked and loaded, I tell everyone my plan to hold off the incoming resistance.

"Alright, here's the plan," I begin. "Max, Chloe, take the front windows by the front door of the lodge to provide firing support. David, Warren, come with me up on the roof where we can lay down some suppressing fire on top. I'll be up there with you two for sniper support. Also, David, before you go up there, grab those claymores I've got in stock and set them down in the front yard to give the enemy a better disadvantage. Understood everyone? Am I clear?"

"Crystal, Rachel," said Max. "Crystal."

"Loud and clear, Rach," said Chloe. "Loud and clear."

"You can always count on me," said Warren.

"Once a soldier, always a soldier," said David.

"Hey, what about me, babe?" asked Frank. "Did you forget about me?"

"Oh, don't you worry, Frankie," I said. "I've got a special job for you."

Max

April 22, 2014

11:15 PM

10 Miles From Arcadia Bay

Kettle Lake Lodge

Chloe and I get into position at the front windows with our firearms in hand. Rachel and Warren take their positions on the roof. David plants all the claymores from the armory in the front yard before he takes his position on the high ground. Frank hides in the garage of the lodge where Rachel tells him to wait inside for a big surprise to give our adversaries when they come knocking on our doorstep.

I remember seeing this action crime drama film 'Heat' made by Michael Mann where they rob a bank and start a shootout across the city. I knew we were in for another dangerous firefight just like that movie and the Blackwell shooting alike. Throughout my whole life, I've never thought I would experience such action since that scene in Heat. I'm such a hella movie nerd. Like Chloe always says.

 _"All claymores are set, Rachel,"_ said David. _"Headed up to the roof with you right now."_

 _"Good,"_ said Rachel. _"You two down there ready for this?"_

"Ready when you are," I said.

 _"Frankie, wait till I give out the signal to bring out the big gun,"_ ordered Rachel. _"You dig?"_

 _"I dig completely,"_ said Frank. _"I called dibs on this gun, just raise me on the horn when you need me."_

 _"HQ to Madsen, you've got heavy resistance closing in on the lodge right now. I hope your group has plan to do something."_

 _"Don't you worry HQ,"_ said David. _"It just so happens that Rachel Amber stocked herself with enough hardware to take on the resistance. We'll hold off as many as we can from here."_

 _"Surely, you can't be serious."_

 _"I am serious. And don't call me Shirley."_

 _"Copy that. Captain Cage is on route to your destination for exfil. ETA fifteen minutes. HQ out."_

"He can't be serious, right?" asked Chloe. "We'll all be corpses in fifteen."

"Relax, Chloe," I said. "Captain Cage knows what he's doing. We're fighters, remember? And survivors, too. If we could survive a Blackwell shooting and a massacre at the expo, we can survive this."

"Right, let's show these bitches what it means to fuck with the Wonder Twins."

We can hear a convoy of cars coming down the road and approaching the lodge. The bullets were going to start flying in less than a minute now. We just had to wait for Rachel's signal.

 _"This is it everyone,"_ said Rachel. _"Get ready to fire on my mark."_

Jeeps carrying mercenaries pulled over into the front yard and merc came marching out searching for us. We stood by for Rachel's signal.

 _"Stand by,"_ she said. _"Stand by."_

Then Rachel fired her sniper rifle shooting down one of the mercs and the firefight began.

 _"Open fire!"_ she ordered.

Chloe and I fire our guns out the windows as soon as Rachel's sniper fire starts picking off the mercs. David and Warren fire their guns up too on their position. This lodge was now being defended by a superstitious hipster, a smartass punk, a wannabe LA superstar, a dorky Blackwell stooge, an ex-Afghan vet, and a badass trailer bum in an exo-suit. Whilst our bullets do some damage, some of mercs get blown away by the claymores planted on the ground. Rachel's sniper bullets that cut everyone down do a majority of the damage for the most part.

After the easiest phase of this fight, the hardest phase was imminent. We could hear helicopter blades from a distance. Meaning more choppers incoming.

"Great, more helicopters!" muttered Chloe. "Just what we needed!"

But they weren't helicopters ready to shoot us down sky high, they were helicopters dropping off reinforcements. Mercenaries were sliding down ropes deployed from the helis to drop more boogies off. And to make the situation even more FUBAR, LMG trucks were now approaching the scene. The fight just hardened even bigger now. The bullets from the LMGs cut through the wood of the lodge where Chloe and I take our defenses.

"Rachel, we're getting cut down from here!" shouted Chloe. "We need to do something!"

 _"Hold on tight girls,"_ said Rachel. _"I got this."_

Rachel was able to take out the opposing force via her sniper rifle. She was able to get a decent angle from the roof down to the shooters on the LMGs. They were now taken care of.

"Great shooting, Rach," I compliment. "Just like our heist right?"

 _"You sure you guys don't need me out there?"_ asked Frank. _"I thought I heard LMGs outside or something?"_

 _"Can it, Frank,"_ said Rachel. _"Just let my Intervention do the talking for now."_

Then an entire army of Neo-Chrys soldiers drop in to give us hell. Trucks and jeeps drop off reinforcements of infantry, grenadiers, and to top it all off, Hanz and Franz jump out of a carrier truck with their instruments of oppression. (Juggernauts in exo-armor and mini-guns. You know what I mean.) With matters getting even more serious, it was time to bring out the Calvary.

"Uh, Frank?! SOS! I repeat, SOS!" shouted Chloe.

"Yeah, Frank!" I shout. "We've got Hanz and Franz hammering us down to the wall here! Get your ass out here now!"

 _"You heard the lady!"_ shouted Rachel. _"Get ass out here now and finish those fuckers!"_

 _"On my way!"_ shouted Frank.

The garage door is kicked down by the force of Frank's exo armor and now we've brought brute to our defense mechanism with the mechanically armored Frankie B. Carrying a heavy gabbling gun from Rachel's armory in his armored hands to fight fire with fire. Our knight in shining exo armor fought fire with fire and went full on T-800 from Terminator 2 Judgment Day against the whole army of Neo-Chrys.

"Those are my fucking beans, bitches!" thundered Frank, ravaging down every last merc in his sights. "I eat beans for breakfast and you can't have any! Suck my cock and die!"

Frank's assistance as well as his comedic overconfidence was paying off and made me want to smile. The ravaging bullets smoke all the mercs and grenadiers down like a cheese grater. The mini gun also had the capability tearing the juggernauts into shreds also. As well as destroying all the trucks and jeeps before them. Blowing up all the vehicles away into fire and ash.

"Whoa! How you like me now, baby?!" shouted Frank. "These are my beans and you can't have any!"

"First of all, you make no says talking metaphorically about beans," said Rachel from the roof. "Second, you just massacred over two dozen guys with a mini gun and you're excited about it."

"You wanted me to carry this bad boy around to do exactly that to begin with. Not sure why you're complaining."

"I'm not complaining, honey. I'm just glad I have an ultimate badass boyfriend. You deserve to keep that armor and spray the words 'My Beans' on it. Just like that scarf I gave Pompidou for."

The battle wasn't over yet. Another helicopter bade could be heard and this time it was no drop vehicle. It was a fully equipped assault chopper with rockets and turrets. The same one Rachel took down on the road to get here. Now we had to take on a big birdie in the sky that we weren't fully equipped to hold off. It was now the big bird in the sky that had the high ground and upper hand. But before the assault chopper could engage on the lodge, a rocket was fired towards the enemy chopper blowing it out of the air and saving our skins. It was a friendly Chrysalis chopper coming to the rescue.

 _"You thought I'd leave your asses behind, didn't you?"_ said Captain Cage on the radio.

"Cage? What took your ass so long?" asked David on comm.

 _"It just so happens that I picked up someone who's relieved to see you all alive and well. Hang tight down there and we'll ground this bird momentarily."_

Chloe

April 22, 2014

11:24 PM

10 Miles From Arcadia Bay

Kettle Lake Lodge

With the coast clear, but bodies of mercenaries and remains of destroyed military vehicles that havocked the yard, the Chrysalis chopper lands safely on the ground to drop off the Captain and the person happy to see us which I obviously knew who. The engine stops, the propellers slow down, and the helicopter door open to reveal Captain Cage and my mother getting off the chopper. And my Mom and I see each other face to face, our eyes yoke relief.

"Chloe, your safe!" my mother yelps.

"Mom!" I call to her.

We run up to each other hug each other tightly.

"What on Earth happened to you?!" my Mom raised her voice. "Don't you ever disappear on me like this again!"

"I'm fine, Mom," I say. "I'm so sorry. This wasn't my fault. Forgive me. I'm really sorry."

"And what on Earth happened here? It looks like a warzone struck this place. And why are you and everyone else carrying guns around? Where did you get those?"

"This is gonna sound crazy, Joyce," said Max. "But we were kidnapped by the same people that intruded that expo, then found out that Crosby man was behind it all, then David rescued us, and then we barely survived a killzone on the road getting here and here alone. That's what on Earth happened here and why we're all carrying guns around and we got these off of Rachel's artillery. End of story."

My mother glances at everyone else outside. Everyone still holding their guns in hand. Warren gives my Mom the piece sign and Frank gives her a wink and a okay sign. Still carrying his heavy ass gabling gun with his heavy ass exo arms. Rachel just raises her eyebrows at my mother. Everyone's reaction is incompetent and nonchalant as it gets. My mom turns to my step-dad ignore everyone else's inept faces.

"David, why do I come here and find my baby girl and Max with the A-Team right in front of me?" she asked.

"Joyce, like I said," he began to answer. "I told you I would bring them back safe and sound. I can explain this later."

"You'll explain to me right now under your promise you made to me months ago!"

While David attempts to explain to my mother about the whole situation with everyone, Max walks up to Captain Cage to inform him of our whereabouts with Crosby's plan to destroy time and the world itself.

"Captain Cage, there's something we need to inform you about that you cannot rule out," said Max.

"If it's about Crosby being behind this all, we're well aware of that, Miss," admitted Cage. "And yes, the investigators of that attack at base can't rule out the Crosby intended for those terrorist to waltz straight through our security."

"Wait, you know he's doing all this?" I ask.

"And they've just recently confirmed he plans to attack Portland, then the west coast, and the entire globe as a whole. We've also just informed Secretary Brown and the rest of our government of this inbound threat to national security. We'll be having a meeting tomorrow morning at the Arcadia Bay City Hall with the Secretary, Director Admiral Penske, and the rest of our political authority to negotiate a plan to defend Neo-Chrysalis from this attack. As much as it kills me to say it, we actually need your help on this one. We really do."

 **Note: Pretty OTT and hilarious with Frank on his exo armor and mini gun, wasn't it? Like Warren, I write his as another comic relief character. Nothing more. The next chapter will follow Max and everyone else planning away to defend Portland from Crosby's oppression. Before the battle begins. Not to mention they're may be another dark encounter in the proceeding chapter. Just maybe. As of now, this pretty much wraps up the first act of this episode.**

 **Until next time, stay golden!**


	7. Negotiations

Chapter 7 Negotiations

Max

April 23, 2014

9:40 AM

Arcadia Bay, Oregon

Arcadia Bay City Hall

I got up early in the morning just in time for the meeting at City Hall. Joyce didn't appreciate us keeping the heist thing from her and how we made things worse by getting ourselves abducted. Which resulted in an argument between her and David they didn't end well for them. And I thought Chloe had it bad tempting to break up their marriage, I was blamed by David for making all this happen. Which he was not happy about. I only had myself to blame. Then they had to come to a forced agreement with Captain Cage to make my attendance at this meeting urgent and mandatory. No argument there.

Joyce had scolded me suggesting that we would've been better off reporting what I found out about to Chrysalis instead of taking matters into our own hands. I justified my actions to the contrary that Crosby would've known what I reported about and things would've gone even more amok than before. At least the massacre at the expo would've been prevented. Didn't matter now. What was done was done. At least I was allowed to go to this meeting. I just wonder if anyone's contacted my parents about this. They would want to know about this too since I'm more of their responsibility than Joyce and David were. As long as I live in Arcadia, they were the only two parental guardians I had at their liability.

After our fight at the lodge last night, Warren left for Blackwell. It was about time he had enough of this time terror fantasy he said. Rachel and Frank stayed at the lodge and kept their stolen power armor. Chloe and I went straight to our home and slept. I even got Chloe into trouble for the mess as well. Even more trouble than she's ever been. But that didn't change anything for what I had to do today.

Chloe, Rachel, David, and I reported ourselves to City Hall where all the government and Chrysalis officials were gathering to negotiate a plan to defend Portland from the Neo-Chrysalis attack. The majors attending the meeting were Secretary of Oregon Kate Brown, Mayor Charlie Hales of Portland, Senator Riley O'Donohue, Captain Clayton Cage, and Director Admiral Gavin Penske of the Chrysalis military division. David and I were considered majors too and joined in up front with the others. Every one the majors including ourselves were all circled around a table with a map of Portland. Chloe, Rachel, and Frank had stood behind us in the crowd of minors and every other political occupant present and crowding the meeting room as well. There was also the Prescotts, Kris and Caroline in the crowd. The meeting had come to order and the negotiations had started.

"We are in grave danger of Neo-Chrysalis," said Admiral Penske. "Alexei Ranikov, a fugitive war criminal to Chrysalis, and now the traitor Derrick Crosby is launching a full scale attack on Portland. Who are we to step down?"

"Admiral Penske, what you're asking us to do is even much more serious than the Caulfield case here in Arcadia Bay," said Secretary Brown. "Who are we to even stand up to this oppression?"

"Don't let your milksop blind you, Secretary," said Cage. "The report stands. Crosby was a mole in Chrysalis smuggling contraband to Neo-Chrys in a way Sean Prescott had. His ties to the terrorist underworld all comes down to this. Point blank."

"The report from your investigators, Captain," said Mayor Hales. "Not from Caulfield or her friends."

"We just risked our lives through hell discovering that the bastard named Crosby was behind this," said David. "Caulfield's report matches theirs and you want to back us down after the shit show we to go through for our confirmation?"

"Deputy Madsen, we respect Caulfield's report as much as theirs," said Brown. "The point of this debate is how many lives are at steak in Portland more than there ever was in Arcadia Bay. Let alone how we would all keep the chaos at bay when it comes to this major threat to national security."

"I've dedicated a lifetime to keeping the chaos at bay from any threat to national security," said Penske. "That will never change as Director and Admiral of the Chrysalis defense division so as long as we actually prevent the succession of this attack. Otherwise, we're looking at the next 9/11 thirteen years after."

"There was 10/11 here in Arcadia Bay when Neo-Chrys summoned a twister to town, unbeknownst," said O'Donohue. "One that somehow Prescott was involved in and now Crosby? I'm running out of people I can trust in my life by the hour. Now I'm expected to trust Captain Cage and Admiral Penske when Crosby couldn't be trusted? Not to mention that Blackwell shooting wasn't entirely orthodox."

"It was never our decision to make, Senator," said Cage. "We're not some political hypocrites like Prescott who always made all the right choices for the all the wrong reasons. We have our orders, we make them subordinate to our cause. Don't be offended."

"I think your both missing the point to this debate," said Hales. "My city is in panic over that fiasco at the Chrysalis center and now Neo-Chrys is about to strike whole entirety of Portland. If not the rest of the globe. I'll be double dog fucked if my town becomes Arcadia revisited. Only this time, it doesn't like a national threat to just one city, but more like a global treat if it ever spreads that far."

The crowd in the room begins yelling and murmuring at each other with that said from Mayor Hales. Chloe scratches her head in the crowd and cups her face. Stressed out over this debate. Rachel and Frank feel the same way as well as the Prescotts. It was time I stood up for this political shit storm and ease the crowd. I attempt to rally this crowd with some optimistic and inspirational words.

"Everyone, settle down!" I shout.

The crowd silences itself. It was now time for the time master to do the talking.

"This attack will absolutely be nothing compared to 9/11 nor the Arcadia twister incident," I say. "Crosby had planned to launch Project Elysium as a super weapon to annihilate the entire globe and intertwine it with a myth come true. Crosby wants to bring out Elysium into our world to destroy the world and start a new. That is the key conflict of this debate you all can't seem to grasp. Millions, billions, maybe even trillions will die!"

"Now we're listening to a teenager who thinks she knows better than everyone else," said Hales. "Why did we put her on the board again?"

"Teenager or not, her words are indubitable," said Penske. "The longer we stand here arguing over one another just buys Neo-Chrys more time to orchestrate another genocidal parish worse than Arcadia. I cannot condone a wasted debate to be the slip of the tongue for another inevitable incident alike Arcadia Bay or worse."

"My sentiments precisely, Admiral," said David. "We all owe it to Caulfield to make her bravery in discovering this debacle accountable for. Last night, I argued with my wife about why I kept this from her and kept telling her it was for the world's sake. I do not wish to argue with this counsel about why Max is the best asset to this endeavor either."

"If Neo-Chrysalis has enough power to reign chaos and despair across the globe, what chance do we have at stopping them?" asked Brown.

"What chance?" I question. "You should be asking what choice. Either a bunch of terrorist hellbent on laying waste to this world go down or we do. The right choice is obvious. We send Chrysalis soldiers over to defend Portland and the people from oppression. Save the lives of millions of friends and families to prevent their fates to be the ones lost to the Arcadia incident. Save the world from mass hysteria or the world as we know it will be obsolete. If we don't stop Neo-Chrys in the name of our buoyancy, the world is as good as dead. We stop them or they stop us."

"Exactly what hope do we have of stopping them, Ms. Caulfield?" asked Brown.

"Hope?" I ask. "We're all built on hope. But there is a cost. There is a struggle. Without struggle, there can be no hope. No sacrifice is too great, no battle is too vulgar. Crosby once asked me is submission not preferable to extinction. The reality is that submission will be our extinction. I once thought my powers started the havoc of terrorizing Arcadia. I thought wrong. Chloe once thought I could sacrifice her for the many. I made no mistake of doing otherwise. So make no mistake everyone. Think of your friends and families who could outlive this injustice as I once did. Hope is the only thing stronger than fear. We fight or we die. No question."

The crowd begins to feel some inspiration towards my speech as everyone starts to murmur in dignity. If I was to rally a crowd in court, why not in this room? I'm now the face of Arcadia Bay after my victory in my quantum terrorism case. All the more reason people had felt inspired by my words once more. I had a gift as Jefferson once said. Not the gift of comeliness as Jefferson once interpreted, but rather the gift of innovation to these people. The kind of finesse these people needed and deserved. That was now the true face of Arcadia indeed.

"There is no hope," said O'Donohue. "Your words are as admirable as they are naive."

"I say we fight!" prevailed Cage.

"I say this world is fucked beyond belief!" muttered Hales. "We are finished. Undoubtedly, over the hill."

"Says the mayor so desperate to avoid Portland from turning into the next Arcadia Bay," intervened David.

"I say this world isn't finished unless Neo-Chrysalis is," said Penske. "The world is on the brink of devastation and I will vouch for Caulfield's words as I speak."

"With all due respect, Admiral," said Brown. "Without the full support of this counsel, despite our best efforts, we won't have the strength to stop Neo-Chrysalis together whatsoever."

Before anyone could say another word, the lighting in the room begins to flicker. Then the lights go completely out and the room goes dark. Everyone in the room gasps. People are now in confusion of what's happening including myself. But it doesn't just happen here. It happens everywhere.

There are blackouts from all over town. From Two Whales to Blackwell. Joyce is on her shift at the dinner serving customers when the lights go out. Students are on campus going to their next classes when the light go out in the halls. The whole town has entered a blackout of an unknown source. However, Arcadia Bay isn't the only place with a citywide power outage.

Blackouts occur in cities such as Seattle and Portland too. In Seattle, the citywide power outage shuts down everything from traffic lights, electronic build board ads, lighting inside buildings, and even houses in residential areas. Such as the neighborhood where my parents live. My parents were at home minding their own business until the power went out in their house. Shocked to see a blackout in their.

The same scenario occurs in Portland. Only with a little catch. Neo-Chrys forces had taken over the Chrysalis tower and Crosby was now in control of the Elysium weapon. Which had been the source of the west coast blackout from the start. Crosby inserts the modified ESR into the reactor core of the weapon as it activated. When the weapon project is activated, electricity is ignited across the project's room and Crosby smiles in excitement for his succession.

The Chrysalis tower's satellite antenna emits the energy of electricity power up the weapon. The Elysium weapon has now been initiated. The sat antenna triggers an opening in the sky above. Releasing the portal to Elysium and spreading dark clouds in the sky above the city. And soon, dark skies spread across the coast.

Everyone including myself runs outside the building of Arcadia City Hall to investigate the commotion happening in town. Gray clouds flood the sky and lightning sparks the clouds. There is now a crowd outside gathered in front of the building gazing up towards the darkening sky just as well as the rest of the town. Some people hold their phones in the air to record what's happening. I take a good long gaze at the dark sky next to Chloe.

This was it. This was the end. This was the sign. This was the end of time itself. Now everyone has a better incentive to listen to reason. To what I had to say in that room. Then a cavernous voice echoes from the clouds calling my name. Now talking to me for another lecture.

 _"Maxine, you have become an annoyance,"_ said the voice in the clouds.

I knew who this voice belonged to. It was Chronos.

 _"You fight against inevitability. Dust struggling against cosmic winds. Even your advocates fail to interpret your belief. But even now, your greatest civilizations are doomed to fall. Your primitives will beg to serve us._

"Max, he's talking to you," said Chloe.

"My name is Max," I remind the god in the clouds. "Not Maxine. And maybe you're right. Maybe we can't win this. But we'll fight you regardless. Just like we'll do to Crosby and his league with Neo-Chrysalis. Just like I'm doing now. However insignificant we might be, we will fight, we will sacrifice, and we will find a way. That's what humans do. I couldn't stop the storm that conquered hundreds in Arcadia, but I couldn't have stopped it regardless. Even if Chloe did just die, even if I had just died for her, it would matter less now, wouldn't it? But I can stop this, Chronos. I will stop you!"

 _"Know this as you die in vain. Your time has come. Your cycle has fractured. Crosby has left little to chance, hasn't he? Time was your ally, traveler. But now it has abandoned you. Elysium will rise. Reality will fall. Prepare yourselves for the arrival."_

 **Note: We're going to war everyone! The fight to stop the end of time begins next chapter! Things are now getting super exciting now aren't they? Prepare yourselves for the arrival and for some heavy COD-esque Michael Bay action starting next time in this finale!**

 **Until next time, stay golden!**


	8. The Arrival

Chapter 8 The Arrival

Max

April 23, 2014

4:19 PM

20 Miles To Portland

Highway 26

 **Karma - Jamie N Commons**

It was time to take the fight to Neo-Chrysalis and put a stop to this fracture in time once and for all. Captain Cage and Admiral Penske rallied their forces to Portland to defend the attack on the city. I was to be made tip of the spear in this battle alone. I was the only person with the right knowledge to know how to stop the world from ending. Even if I was just a small teenage hippy being sent to go to war with the most dangerous terrorist occult since ISIS. The most fearsome quantum terrorist to initiate the most devastating attack since 9/11. There was no need to fear. Super Max is here.

As Chrysalis troops prepped themselves for war, I had to be Chrysalis's weapon in this fight against Neo-Chrysalis. So I obviously had to prep myself too. As well as all my companions from Arcadia Bay who've I requested to volunteer in this fight. Chloe Price, Rachel Amber, David Madsen, and Frank Bowers. All who were fighters that were bold enough to join me in death in this battle for Portland and the world as a whole. Their bravery helped me survive my discord with Arcadia and my feud against the owed me to return the courageousness they've shown until now.

To prepare myself for this suicide mission, I had to dress myself in combat gear. I wore a tube top shirt, a harness, a skirt, a scarf around my waste, and boots for my choice of combat clothing. Chloe wore a combat vest over a Chrysalis military shirt and a combat beanie. Rachel wore a sleeveless combat jacket over a tank top and harness. David wore an official Chrysalis military uniform. Frank wore a leather combat vest over a red shirt and a beanie.

We also had to equip ourselves with weapons too. Chloe and I arm ourselves with some standard P36 pistols. Rachel arms herself with dual magnums and a Barrett 50Cal sniper rifle. Frank just has a standard P36 side arm for his weapon of choice. David is equipped with a G36C assault rifle and a side arm. We all get inside a military truck and we're off to Portland via convoy of trucks, escort bikes, and helicopters from above. The five of us split into two separate trucks. Chloe, David, and I got on a truck carrying Secretary Brown, Mayor Hales, Captain Cage, and a dark skinned soldier who was Cage's second in command Lieutenant Mason. Rachel and Frank were being transported on a separate vehicle carrying Admiral Penske and Senator O'Donohue.

Our first objective entering the attack on Portland was to extract the Secretary, Mayor, and Senator to the checkpoint in Beaverton, the district next to Portland, where Chrysalis forces wer gathering locals for evac. A place where Chrysalis would be protecting locals living in Portland to safety away from the subjection in the city. The convoy enters a freeway to both Beaverton and Portland were civilian vehicles are packed on the left lane and Chrysalis and PPB (Portland Police Bureau) vehicles sped up on the right lane. Exactly where we were driving en route to Beaverton.

The city was not in good shape. We could see skyscrapers lit on fire, dark clouds flooding the sky from above, and a huge beam streaming upwards forming a large opening in the air. Like Loki's wormhole from the Avengers or the mothership from Independence Day. I could even see stars of fire raining down from above like Michael Bay's Armageddon. Now that's what I call a disaster film in a nutshell. All you need is a bunch of flying alien robots and spaceships in the air and you have combination of the Avengers movie and Transformers Dark of the Moon. But there weren't any aliens flying in the air and at least there wasn't that. Unless those shooting stars that were slowly descending in the air was just meteor shower launching aliens to the ground, there was no telling what I was in for.

This was it. This was my vision come true just like the tornado. Just as I envisioned six months until now. Doesn't all my nightmares come true these days? The big worm hole portal in the sky was undoubtedly coming from the Chrysalis tower from downtown. This is what Crosby has planned along since the day we met in the office. If not, before we even started to know each other. You won't win Crosby. Just like Jefferson and Prescott. Like Jefferson alone, Crosby was to good to be true and he'll loose like my other deceptive mentor. How many more mentors will I share bad blood with? I can't seem to trust anyone anymore. Like Palpatine manipulated Anakin to the dark side. If you ask me, I'll never turn to the dark side of the force. The good guys shall win and the bad guys shall loose.

"Madam Secretary, Neo-Chrys just took out Air Force One and Marine One," said Mayor Hales. "We cannot extract you by air."

"Cage, what's the status of the other convoy's?" asked Secretary Brown.

"PPB reports surface streets are compromised," replied Cage. "Hundreds of heavily armed mercenaries have struck Portland simultaneously. We're also getting reports of unknown hostiles taking the city by storm."

"Any word on casualties?" asked Brown.

"Downtown Portland evacuated," replied Hales. "Preliminary reports are below expectations."

"Caulfield, if there's anything of this attack we don't know about, you should tell us now," suggested Brown.

"As I've explained before, Madam Secretary," I begin. "Crosby is using that hole in the sky to intertwine this world with another one. We have to stop him by midnight or the world is no more. That's all I can tell you."

 _"Madam Secretary, we're taking you to the Beaverton outpost located on 106 Southwest Scholls Drive,"_ said Admiral Penske on comm. _"That's where civilians are being evacuated for refuge until the heavy fighting dies down."_

"Hales, I want troops on the streets and these terrorist dealt with," ordered Brown.

"NORAD scrambled two hundred FA38s," said Lieutenant Mason. "They're less than five minutes out."

"Madsen, these girls can handle themselves?" asked Brown. "They're too young to be brought into a severely dangerous matter like this."

"Say no more," replied David. "The girls and I barely survived a shootout at a lodge. Don't underestimate their chances of survival. They're mature enough for this fight. You count on that, Madam."

I pull the slide if my pistol and look through my seat window and over to the driver's window to see a Chrysalis helicopter flying next to our truck and up front above our lane on the freeway. I can also see jet fighters zooming through the air and into the city for a dog fight. Which must've been the FA38s sent by NORAD as Lieutenant Mason just mentioned. I take another glance at the once beautiful home away from home I always desired since Chloe and I were little brats that is now ground zero. Hell on earth as we knew it. I was starting to hate Crosby more than I hated Jefferson. If I ever wished to put Jefferson's head on a spear, I'd wish the same for Crosby. Even more so than ever.

"This is what Crosby planned all along," I said. "Project Elysium was both the conduit and origin that would summon the world of Elysium in of itself and cripple the time space continuum across the world."

I see the top of a skyscraper explode like dynamite. Whatever caused the explosion, it was worse than the explosion on the Chrysalis tower. It was like seeing the World Trade Center on fire when I was six years old. Then suddenly, one of the meteorites falling from the sky hit the helicopter flying in front of us on impact rendering it immobile and causing it to hit the road, a police car to roll of the road, and to disgorge on the road like a tumble weed.

The police car that was disemboweled hit the truck but rolled off to the other lane. The totaled helicopter almost hit our truck, but rolled over it instead. We brace ourselves inside the vehicle as the totaled chopper misses us. Then another meteor blows up in our face from atmosphere when it plummet to the road ahead and dismantles a Chrysalis truck, two police cars, and bikes off the road. A biker from one of the police bike flies off his bike and hits the front window of our truck as he tumbles over. And if karma wasn't a bitch enough, yet another shooting star plummets to freeway setting off a bigger explosion on impact and causing our truck to loose control and tilt to the ground. I roll off my seat and land my spleen before passing out from the shock of the crash.

As I struggle to win back my consciousness, my eyesight attempts to adjust to better visuals and I start crawling out of the truck that's now upside down. I could see that everyone including Chloe had already got out through the disembarked front of the vehicle. Though the driver was killed, I could see David helping out Secretary Brown get out when my vision returns to normal. I've managed to survive what William could not.

"Captain Cage, get to her cover!" shouted David, as Brown ran off.

Then I see chloe come after me to help me.

"Come on, Max!" she shouted. "The meteors got us zeroed! The stinger's our only chance!"

David helps me out of the totaled truck and everybody is now shooting their guns in the air. Chloe is firing her gun toward the incoming stars with Rachel, Frank, and Cage's men including Mason. David does the same. Cage finds cover behind the tilted truck that was Rachel and Frank's as well for Mayor Hales, Senator O'Donohue, and Admiral Penske. And now David just ordered me to use to a stinger missile turret mounted on one of the derelict trucks that was stuck on a hole in the bridge. Like I'm a demolish specialist to anyone. Wasn't like I had a lot of choice. It raining firing balls and I had to do something about it.

"Be ready to move!" I shout to everyone.

I sprint my way to the stinger to commandeer it and I jump onto the wrecked truck to do so. Once I land on the hood of the truck, I end up slipping and break my fall by gripping my right on the edge and looking down to the low road where sirens were heard and another convoy passed. I climb over the edge of the hood and into the cockpit of the mounted stinger gun. I try activating the missile turret and it's activated and ready to fire some rockets.

 _"Tracking multiple groups, I'll call em as I seem em,"_ said David on comm.

It was now my job to shoot down the incoming stars before they plummet to the ground. The targeting system on the turret was able to automatically track down the shooting stars and allow the smart missiles to trace the movements of the stars. I would fire when ready.

 _"Here they come,"_ said David.

 _"Keep em off of us!"_ shouted Chloe on comm. _"Don't let them get through!"_

I shoot down the fire balls with smart rockets successfully. This turret had a good targeting system for tracing movements.

 _"Good shot!"_ shouted Chloe.

 _"Left side! Left side!"_ shouted David. _"Dead ahead! Engage!"_

I turn the turret to my left and shoot the oncoming projectiles to the left dead ahead. It was me against a whole pack of kamikaze stars. I've definitely never seen this much action since Armageddon. Boy do I love how that movie ends with Steven Tyler. Even better than how Thelma and Louise ended, if not. I shoot the rest of the bothersome flies as their airborne before they plummet. Just how much more of this action can I survive?

 _"Hella yeah!"_ shouted Chloe. _"Watch your flank! Coming around ninety degrees!"_

I turn the turret around ninety degrees and shoot more fiery debris out of the sky. One of the shooting stars almost hit me, but not before I could barely shoot it in time as it blew up in my face.

 _"Nice hella shootin', sista!"_ said Chloe.

I was no longer going to be able to hold the meteors off for long. Then I ran out of missiles. I could no longer hold off the eagles in the sky and there was on shooting star about to impact and incinerate my ass.

 _"Max, get the hell out of there!"_ warned Chloe.

I don't even think twice before hurrying my way out of the cockpit climbing my way over the now collapsing stinger truck and leap straight off the truck before the fire star could collide and bombast on impact. Karma's such a bitch. Then yet another fucking shooting star is about to bombard me into smithereens. It was thirty feet from impact and there was no time to take evasive action. I raise my hand and try to rewind my way out this, but before I could activate my rewind, a rocket is fired towards the star and is subdued from impact. Next thing I see is a fighter jet flying over the vicinity and hovering over the freeway. Overlooking our distress. Apparently, someone flying the jet was kind enough to save our skins.

 _"Cage, this is Lynch,"_ said the pilot on the jet fighter. _"Responding to your mayday call. Standing by for tasking."_

"Lynch? Is that you?" asked Rachel on her comm. "Holy shit man! What brings you here?"

 _"How's it hanging, Amber?"_ said the pilot named Lynch. _"I was in the neighborhood. Figured after owed you one after Bolivia."_

"Lynch, we are en route to Beaverton with the Secretary," said Cage on his comm. "Request establishment overhead. Provide armed overwatch."

 _"WILCO. Be advised, I'm all you got. The bulk of my squadron is down or engaging hostile activity."_

"Understood, we'll make it work," said Cage. "Cage out.

"You two knew each other?" asked Frank.

"It's a long story," answered Rachel. "We'll talk about it later."

"Rachel..."

"We'll talk about it later."

"Madsen, sitrep," requested Cage.

"We got mercs all over the freeway," reported David, looking down the low road from the edge of gap caused by an explosion on the freeway. "They got RPGs targeting another convoy on the freeway. Dead ahead, lower level. What's the call, Cage?"

I get back up on my feet and rejoin the rest of my squadron posted at the cliff side of the damaged freeway. I could see mercs posted around every corner of the lower level. We needed to strategize our plan to protect the Secretary, Mayor, Senator, and Admiral from the all the heat and get them to safety to that other convoy. It was the Captain's call and he gave his orders.

"Amber, that's Barrett 50Cal you got equipped there right?" asked Cage. "You can provide sniper support with that weapon while we get the Secretary down there."

"Understood," said Rachel. "You get the Secretary down there while I provide cover fire."

Rachel lies down on her stomach and aims her sights downwards to the lower level. The rest of us hook ourselves up to the fence of the freeway to rope down to the lower level and try and hold off the heat from down there. Chloe and I hook our tightropes on the fence with everyone else to engage on the lower level.

"Everybody rappel down!" shouted David, making sure everyone's hooked up. "Go, go!"

"We got to make quick or the folks inside are dead meat," said Cage.

Once everyone including ourselves is hooked on, we slide down via our ropes and land safely on the ground floor. Time to fight some more boogies.

"We're on ground, Rachel," I say. "Full head count."

Every one of us finds some cover to hold off the merc and take the heat off the other convoy taking fire from infantry.

"We got ground troops all around," said Lieutenant Mason.

 _"I see them!"_ said Rachel on comm. _"Protect the Secretary!"_

"Several mercs inside the big rig trailer," instructed Chloe. "Lower freeway right side."

Rachel clips down the mercs on the big trailer with ease. There were many more mercs to wipe clean from the sight and mind. Nothing Rachel couldn't handle.

"More MG trucks advancing on the right," instructed Frank.

 _"Take cover by the vehicle!"_ said Rachel via comm.

We all brace ourselves behind cover from the MG fire as Rachel snipes away the gunner on the truck. We then push forward for more cover.

"Moving," I say.

"Dead ahead!" shouts Chloe. "We got another MG truck dropping infantry!"

 _"Stay in cover! I'll direct you to move when you're clear!"_

"We're taking heavy fire from all directs!" I shout.

As usual, Rachel snipes the bastards better than a storm trooper could. Clearing a path for us to push forward the convoy under siege.

 _"Push through! Those people in the vehicles are running out of time!"_

"Taking fire from snipers on the overpass!" shouted Mason.

"They're right on us, Rachel," said David. "Behind the support columns."

"Amber, we need covering fire now!" shouted Cage.

"Dammit, Rachel!" muttered Chloe. "We're taking fire from high!"

"Dammit, Rachel!" muttered Frank. "Keep em off of us!"

"They've got fucking snipers on the overpass!" shouted Chloe. "Use your scope, Rachel!"

"Those mercs aren't gonna snipe themselves, Rachel!" muttered David. "Do something!"

"Rachel, take out those snipers!" I harass.

 _"I'm trying, dammit! Keep covering the Secretary!"_

Rachel targets the boogies posted on the overpass and clips them down like flick fire darts. Like Frank on the mini gun, Rachel was out with the gladiator in this war against Neo-Chrysalis. What would we do without a girl like her? From bonafide Blackwell girl, to LA pop star wannabe, to Chrysalis agent, to Arcadian vigilante, and now gladiator in this heavy fighting, we could all be proud Rachel was alive for this day to come.

We all try holding off the infantry on the lower ground to cover the Secretary, Admiral, and all the other important people to Oregon. Meanwhile, Rachel cleans house above the overpass where mercs take cover behind the signs and concrete fence. After that, it was time push through to the vehicles once last time.

 _"Clear. Get to the vehicles!"_

Then a mercenary on an upper parking lot to the right fired an RPG at the angle of Rachel's position. The rocket from the RPG missed Rachel, but exploded a car next to her causing the cliff to crumble. It was time for her to get off the freeway.

"Get the hell out of there, Rachel!" warned Chloe. "The freeway's coming down!"

Rachel quickly lassos her tightrope on the edge and instantaneously slides down as another rocket hit the freeway and damages the edge even more.

"SHIT!" cried Rachel.

The tether on the rope snaps when the explosion from the RPG fire damages the edge and Rachel falls flat on her back. Frank races over to her to help her up.

"Rachel, you okay?!" shouted Frank. "Come on, babe! Get up. Don't go down on me now."

"I won't," replied Rachel, taking her boyfriend's hand.

The fight was not over yet. More falling stars hit the overpass and this time, releasing some kind of monstrous shadow figures. Zombie-like creatures that looked liked deformed humans and had red glowing eyes and black flame on their skin. Then another falling star hits the overpass unleashing a brute-like creature from the sky. The demonic brute had evil red eye and flaming skin like the zombie-like demons, the silhouette of a gorilla or a golem like creature and had horns on it's head. The creature looked as if it were guarding the gates of hell.

The brute drummed it's fist on his belly muscles and roared like a Bengal tiger. The brute demon leaped off the overpass and landed on the lower level attacking some of the remaining mercs that were still on their feet. The brute shoved the mercs away from it's path and brutally tossed them around like rag dolls. Then it was coming for us.

"What the fuck is that?!" shouted David.

"Everyone take that thing down!" ordered Cage.

We all lit up the monster with bullets, but our ammunition is less than effect on the beast itself. The demon charges at our ass like a rhino and everyone takes evasive maneuvers. Before I could take my maneuvers, the demon me down on my when it charges and it now hover over me willing to maul me to death. I begin to panic going down my an angry titan.

"Max, look out!" shouted Chloe.

The demon snarls and roars as it tempt to pound me with it's big ass fist. I dodge it's attacks by rolling around to the left and right. I couldn't dodge this angry beast flat on my ass forever. The beast attempt to pound me with it's bare fist for one last blow until a sniper bullet shoots the beast in the dead in the head and send it bursting into dust. Killing the beast for good and saving my skin. It was Rachel's sniper bullet that saved me getting brutally mauled to death. I owed her one.

"Max, are you okay?!" shouted Chloe, coming over to help me up. "The fuck were you thinking?! That thing could've killed you!"

"Can it, Chloe!" I mutter, grabbing her hand. "We need to get a move on now!"

More stars falling from the sky summoned more demons on the ground. Many of them were a bunch of shadow zombies roaming the area, a few were more brutes. I hear a voice echo through my brain and then see a mirage of crows flying around hawking and snow on the ground. I could still see the walking demons through the mirage The voice in my head belonged to Chronos.

 _"Imagine yourself in a frozen forest. Imagine somewhere calm. Imagine somewhere safe. Surrender yourself to your dreams."_

"Max! Snap out of it!" muttered Chloe, getting my attention. "We got to go now!"

The mirage had vanished and faded. I was no longer hallucinating and was snapped back to reality. He hold off the demons as we make a break for the convoy.

"Get on the radio and find the status of the other convoys!" ordered Cage.

 _"The rear vehicles were diverted as soon as we were hit!"_ said a voice from comms, which had come from the other convoy. _"Admiral Penske is secure!"_

The admiral had already boarded another convoy while we were fighting on the lower roads to protect the Secretary. That was a relief.

"Good work, people!" commented Cage. "We need to get this convoy moving! Get the Secretary in the middle vehicle! We're gonna be fighting every inch of the way!"

"Everyone in the truck!" ordered David. "Single file! Move, move, move!"

Our team secures the Secretary, the Mayor, and Senator inside the middle vehicle and we were ready to depart. David, Chloe, and I take the truck in front of the Secretary's. Rachel and Frank get on the Secretary's truck. David gets on the wheel, I call shotgun, and Chloe rides in the back.

"Update all," said David on his comm. "Blue route is go."

David hops onto the drivers seat and starts the engines. More of those demons were still after us and it was time to get the hell out this area.

"Punch it, David!" I shout.

David steps on the gas peddle rams some MG truck out of our path. Clearing the road for both us and the proceeding vehicle.

"Faster! Ram them out of the way!" I tell him.

 _"Cage, you got stars turning in on your convoy!"_ said Lynch on comm.

A star hit part of an overpass causing it to collapse on the street and block our lane. We had to turn quickly before we crashed into the debris.

"Left, David!" I warn. "Left!"

David quickly turns the truck over to the left lane avoiding the debris. Lynch was piloting her jet fighter to cover us from the incoming projectiles out of the sky.

 _"I have lock. Firing!"_

Lynch swooped down in her fighter jet like Tom Cruise in Top Gun to keep us covered. Despite our air support backup, more falling stars plummeted on another overpass and we had to divert our course back to the right lane.

"Hard right! Hard right!" I shout.

"The whole freeway's coming down!" shouted Chloe.

"Holy shit!" shouted David.

We could see half the freeway above us on the left collapse onto the street like a cake splattered on the floor. We running out of road the more it got bombarded by stars. We had to squeeze through what was left out lane past the debris on the far right side of the street. Where were the Avengers when you needed them? What something bad happens, you'd want to be with the Avengers. If you ask me, they would be in New York. Not Portland.

"Lynch, this is Madsen. How badly hit is downtown?"

 _"It's bad, Madsen. Most of the city's now a full blown warzone. I don't know how your gonna make it through downtown after Beaverton."_

"How the hell did we come back from this, Max?" asked Chloe.

"I don't know yet, but we will," I answer.

"Crosby knew exactly what he was doing," said Chloe. "Hitting Portland and using Project Elysium to take over the world. How cliche. I mean look at this place. This is nothing like dying in a storm in Arcadia Bay. The city's swarming with Neo-Chrys mercs, it's raining fireballs, and now there's these demon things we have to confront. All responsible by a guy dressed in a Matrix cosplay. This shit just hit the fan."

"Yeah," I said. "And it's making Jefferson's dark room look like Kindergarden recess. No request asked. Prepare yourself for the arrival, Chloe. This fight's far from done."

"Was it ever like this in Afghan, David?" asked Chloe. "Back when you were a Marine?"

"Oh no, Chloe," replied David. "This is much worse. Way worse than the outskirts in Afghan. That I can tell you."

Some police cars and motorbikes get in front of as was we proceed the road to the safezone in Beaverton to extract the Secretary and the rest of her political affairs. Once we get there, a checkpoint was stationed at Beaverton and was guarded by Chrysalis troops and strikers. The gate at the checkpoint opens and there are guys in exo-suits carrying mini guns to protect people entering from resistance attempt to breach the safezone. The troops let us in and we were safe from the heavy fighting at last. For now.

 **Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter and felt it was a great start for an action heavy episode! Can you imagine if Dontnod had actually took the risk of making LIS episode into a COD clone just for the sake of action? The thing that I've learned from writing all this thus far is that when your a person influenced by action games, you turn LIS into an action story. That simple. This took me a few days to write and I'm sure you can all understand why.**

 **As you may have already known, the official prequel Life is Strange Before the Storm was just announced at this year's E3! Plus, there's now some pre-release gameplay footage where we get to see Rachel in action and hear her voice! Her voice wasn't exactly how I first imagined, but that doesn't bother me.** **BTW, if you're wondering how Rachel knows the jet fighter pilot, you may find out next chapter.**

 **Until next time, stay tuned!**

 **P.S. Speaking of voices, I hate to burst everyone's bubble, but Ashly Burch isn't returning to reprise her role in the prequel do to voice actor's strike. I guess she was too busy voicing Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn to come back. Unless she had a contract to another game, it wouldn't matter because of the strike. Oh, well. Missed opportunities happen. Enjoy the rest of this COD clone as I get busy.**


	9. Plan of Action

Chapter 9 Plan of Action

Chloe

April 23, 2014

5:05 PM

Beaverton, Oregon

Safezone

Max and I find ourselves a tent at the safezone where we wait to meet our unit and plan our assault in Portland. I observe my pistol I had taken for my sidearm, load a clip into it's grip, and pull the side to load it up. Max sits down on a porch across from me in the tent to calm herself from all the heavy fighting we through to get here and take a break. The safezone was packed with dozens of Chrysalis military personnel and locals taking refuge.

David always told me to not pray for an easy life, but pray to be a stronger woman. As John F. Kennedy would say down in history. It was hard enough for me all those years in a struggle to bring balance into my life with my Dad and Max gone, and now my life has turned into a real battlefield. Not metaphorically, but rather literally. This fight in Portland immediately brought David back to Afghanistan when he served in the marines. But this was way worse as he had mentioned back in the truck.

I was still thinking about how Rachel sold us out to that egomaniac in Matrix cosplay. I still felt betrayed again by my her own self-righteousness. I felt even more incompetent as usual believing in her bullshit story about the great Jack Divine who died in an accident in San Diego. How hard could it possibly be to just say she worked as a part time agent for Chrysalis before she returned? Let alone resurrected from her OD via Lazarus program? I could care less how crazy it was, it'd be more respectful to say than something as juvenile as Jack Divine. I didn't even forgive her like I meant it back at the saw mill, did I? At least she had the maturity to admit she wasn't sorry about lying again, but sorry she sold us out.

Secretary Brown, Mayor Hales, Senator O'Donohue, and Admiral Penske were secured at safezone. They needed to inform the Pentagon of this attack on Portland that was defined as a threat to national security via video phone. This was certainly no free country from quantum terrorism and Max and I were no strangers from it. How far could we go in our lives in this struggle to enter such a conflict? The attack on Arcadia Bay was nothing more but something made to look like a natural disaster. This attack on Portland was the start of a new cold war. The beginning of World War III. The beginning of the end.

"Secretary Brown just informed the Pentagon of this attack with Admiral Penske and the others," said Max. "Now this country and the whole world is watching."

I don't say anything. Not like I needed to respond to her. I was fully aware of what they had to inform to national security.

"Look, Chloe. I know you must still be uptight with Rachel about what she did to us working with Crosby, but it's not like she would've had it any other way. The world is ending and all you can think about is her?"

"You know what, I don't even care anymore about what she did," I admit. "Crosby's the antagonist of this story. Not her. In fact, not even people like Jefferson and the Prescotts were even the antagonist of this story either. Just a bunch of expendable puppets who held hands with devil. Nothing more. I'm more worried if Rachel could still be trusted with us after that Houdini she pulled on us."

"She just took out a hundred guys with a Barrett 50Cal after barely surviving an even more fatal car wreck than William's, a bunch of raining fire balls from the sky, an army of mercs, and a horde of alien shadow demons. How can she not be trusted? If she wanted to pull another Houdini on us, she would've done so sooner. It's useless to dwell on those odds."

"That's what everyone would say. Nonetheless, point taken."

"Listen, Chloe, Jefferson played us. Prescott played us. Crosby played us. They're the only bad guys of this story and nobody else. So don't make Rachel out to be one of them. She's not."

"Price, Caulfield, come meet your unit for debriefing now," said Lieutenant Mason, calling us over.

The two of us exit our tent and report to the meeting with our unit.

Rachel

April 23, 2014

5:10 PM

Beaverton, Oregon

Safezone

Frank and I find a tent for ourselves to take a break in sometime after the Pentagon was informed on the disaster in Portland. I restock my guns with ammo while Frank sits down on a porch across from me. I still thought about how Chloe felt betraying her the second time. I even thought about how Frank must feel too. I wonder if they were both still pissed about how I ratted them all out to that psychopathic Lex Luther in Matrix-ware.

From a once trusted witness protector to Max to now an egotistical lunatic attempting to save the world by destroying it, I was the only person around my companions that knew what Crosby would do from the get-go. Didn't matter. I'd never betray my friends on purpose. I just hope everyone could see that sooner or later. I glance over to Frank who sits there looking stern at himself. Wasn't sure if actually wanted to talk to me, but surely he must still be upset for what I did.

"Just admit it, Frank," I said. "You're still upset aren't you."

"Yep, I'm still upset," he admitted. "Don't think I don't still feel betrayed after what you got us into. You come back from the dead. And for what? You really haven't changed since your resurrection have you? Jack Divine my ass. I may be a low-life, but I'm not dumbfounded. You never change."

"Name one thing I haven't changed about myself," I ask him. "That's not fair to say after what I've been through to come back."

"What you've been through? Do you know what it's like to wait for your princess to come visit you, but she never does? Do you know what it's like to drink yourself in a shithole because of your decomposed corpse six feet below?"

"I don't know, Frank. Do you know what it's like to get kidnapped, rapped, tortured, and OD'd in a creepy ass dark room? Do you know what it's like to wake up in morgue, discover you have super powers, then stuck doing dirty work for Chrysalis for six months after just waking up from a six month coma, huh? Do you? That's what I thought."

"Listen, Rachel. And you listen good. I couldn't give a fuck what you had to do after abandoning the people who cared about you in town, you turned your back on everything we loved each other for."

"You sound just like Chloe, Frank. I believe Chloe has been through a lot more than you ever have. You think I'd betray you all purposefully? I was always loyal to you and everyone else I've ever known in Arcadia Bay despite the deception. Last night you were all guns blazing and massacring on a whole army of terrorist with a fucking mini-gun and power armor like you didn't even care and now you want to obsess over my betrayal? Your no better than, Chloe. You know that?"

"Dammit, Rachel. You only have yourself to blame. You betrayed us, that's on you. No denying that."

"No one is denying anything, Frank. Understand the world is ending and the world is counting on us to make us sure it doesn't and now is not the time for grievances. Why are you acting like you don't care?"

"I'm not sure what that really means to me anymore. What we did at the expo, turned into a shit show with bunch of thugs taking hostages and putting a gun against a girl's head and the building lighting up like fire crackers."

"Hey, come on. We did what could back there."

"Yeah, we all 'did' what we could. For stupid data from a fucking server room!"

"That wasn't the only reason! And yeah, we did! You know we did."

Frank scratched his head.

"Ya see, that's - that's the thing! Like I said, I could've stayed my ass back in my RV with Pompidou. Warren could've stayed his ass at Blackwell or at least went on the field trip but have nothing to do with any of this. Instead, you drag my ass into this fantasy of yours and I paid for it. I'm just lucky poor Pompidou didn't starve himself to death alone in my mobile home. I didn't know shit about shit. I thought-"

Frank cut himself and sighed before finishing his sentence.

"What? What?!"

"It doesn't matter. I get it now. If it was you or someone else, you'd choose you. You do what you can, you do what you have to, and you get to keep going. Nobody's in this together, okay? Not anymore."

"Bowers, Amber, time to report to your unit for debriefing," said Lieutenant Mason from out the tent.

I had known Lieutenant Mason from back when I was a Chrysalis agent, but there was no time for introductions. It was time to stop lamenting on the past and start pushing forward to the future.

Max

April 23, 2014

5:15 PM

Beaverton, Oregon

Safezone

"Admiral on deck!" Cage called out.

Chloe, Rachel, Frank, David, and I stand in front of a group of soldiers at a meeting area where Admiral Penske makes his acquaintance. Soldiers lined up at his presence solute to him as he passes, including Captain Cage. The Admiral walks over to a table with a map of Portland that would be used to strategize our plan of action. Penske steps over to the table next to Cage for a speech of his before the plan for the operation to stop the attack on Portland could be made. The Admiral had stood up front to say his speech.

"Ladies and gentlemen," began the Admiral. "We are now at war with Neo-Chrysalis once more. In this hour of despair, we face the greatest quantum terrorism threat man has ever known since 9/11. We are all gathered here tonight for one purpose and one purpose only. To rid the oppression of quantum terrorism that has now hit Portland and soon the world as a whole. We are to believe that the storm from Arcadia Bay was a diversion to distract everyone from foreseeing this cataclysm. Now that the real action has began, it is in our blood to exploit this inequity and discriminate this injustice for this country's and our people's security for piece. Public enemies, Alexei Ranikov and Derrick Crosby, are confirmed to be the criminal minds behind this terrorism. They both plan to eradicate this world to transcend it into a mythical world known as Elysium. A world that will end ours into an afterlife of doom. As soldiers of the Chrysalis Corps, you all have a job to rid the world of quantum terrorism. Objective: stop Crosby and Ranikov from orchestrating this attack summoning the myth of Elysium causing the fracture in time. The only way you can all accomplish such is by sticking together and fighting for our cause. No battle is too great, no soldier is too expendable. Captain Cage here will provide our plan of action."

The Captain projected a map of Portland on a table in the meeting area that displayed our plan of action. This first thing he had showcased was the source of this attack that was the Chrysalis tower emitting the portal in the sky.

"The source of this attack is all coming from our own base," informed Cage. "This portal in the sky is what Crosby had planned to initiate his attack from the start. Intel shows that it's also the source of the falling stars in the sky that's summoning the unknown assailants that intel identifies them as Fallen. The Fallen are mythically know as an advanced race that were guardians of Elysium who were chosen to serve the mythical world and protect it from outsiders invading the haven."

Cage had projected some other locations on display where the operation to fight through Portland to get to the Chrysalis tower would take place from start to finish.

"Our operation will start from Old China Town to Pioneer Square to the Hawthorne Bridge," continued Cage. "Neo-Chrys has formatted three central defenses to keep us from reaching the our tower. So before we can even reach the Chrysalis tower, we need to break their lines of defenses in order to make it easier for us to make it as far as Chrysalis Plaza where our central target is located. We'll have an AC-130 to be our eye in the sky incase we're ever overwhelmed. Phase 1: We hit China Town to break enemy lines posted at the Ace of Spades Inn. Phase 2: We proceed to Pioneer Square to take out the other defenses out in the open. Phase 3: We break the last enemy line at the Hawthorne bridge. Phase 4: Stop the portal opening in the sky and finish this fight once and for all. In order, to achieve this complete operation, we will need to divide ourselves into two teams. Alpha 1 will proceed directly to our first destination while Alpha 2 will be our diversion team to keep some of the heat off our when we're the first to enter. We're also gonna need some sniper support for when we get on the rooftops. The sniper will go with Alpha 2. Caulfield, since I've seen you do some damage on that freeway, I'm letting you take who want for the sniper."

"Her?" questioned David. "She's only here because she's a volunteer! Not a soldier!"

"I've underestimated how well those girls can handle themselves out there," said the Captain. "So have you. Max, pick one of your friends who has the skill for sniping and pick them well?"

 **X/SQUARE/LM - CHOOSE RACHEL**

 **B/CIRCLE/RM - CHOOSE CHLOE**

 **A/X/MM - CHOOSE FRANK**

"Rachel, you can snipe anything," I said. "Your the most obvious choice for this role. You be the sniper."

"Amen," replied Rachel.

"We're also gonna need someone leading the secondary fire team," said Cage. "Caulfield, you can pick between my second in command Lieutenant Mason or Madsen. Your call."

 **X/SQUARE/LM - CHOOSE DAVID**

 **B/CIRCLE/RM - CHOOSE LT. MASON**

"David, I'm counting on you with this one," I say faithfully. "Once a soldier, always a soldier."

David doesn't say anything, but he gives me faithful nod for a compliment.

"Now that everyone has a job to do, any last words before we're dismissed, Admiral?" asked the Captain.

The Admiral stepped forward to say his last before we were dismissed.

"I don't know what will happen out there ladies and gents," began Penske. "But I won't lie to you. It's not going to be easy. We've already lost good people. We may loose more. No matter what occurs, lives are counting on us. We don't know many lives could be lost if we fail. Thousands, hundreds of thousands, it's not important. What matters is this - not one more. That's what we can do here today. It ends with us. They want to know what we're made of, I say we show them on our own terms. We do this for country. We do this for freedom. We do this for honor. This operation will commence at eighteen hundred. Good luck out there. Dismissed."

As soon as everyone spread out, a voice was shouted from across the crowd.

"Rachel, is that you?!" the voice called out.

Rachel turned to the person calling her over and she was actually a familiar face she recognized from Chrysalis.

"Cayce? Holy shit! It's you!"

Rachel hugged the young man named Cayce who was another Chrysalis soldier. Cayce was a young man who had looked to be about Frank's age but more sharp looking.

"Nice to see you again, Rachel," said Cayce.

"Likewise," she said. "What brings you all this way?"

"What brings me all this way is that there's a war in Portland," he replied. "That's brings me all this way. Who are your friends?"

"Oh, where are my manners. Max, Chloe, Frank, David, this is Cayce Foley. Cayce, these are some of my old friends I told you about from Arcadia Bay. That's my ex-girlfriend, Chloe. My ex's lifelong pal, Max. Chloe's step-dad, David. And my boyfriend, Frank. Cayce and I here go back from when I woke up from my coma shortly after my resurrection. We're not seeing each other if that's what your about to ask. We're just friends. Him and I used to be partners when I worked as an agent. Not those kind of partners if you know what I mean."

"Right," said Frank. "So were you like buddy cops or something?"

"It's a long story, Frank," she replied. "So, which side on Alpha are you on, Cayce? Now that you're in this fight with us?"

"I'll be on Alpha 2's back," said Cayce. "How bout you?"

"Same. I'm the sniper, so I guess we'll have each other's back then."

"Great, I'll see you on the other side then. Take care. Your gonna need it."

The young soldier named Cayce walked off. Now I know why Rachel was gone for over a year. She had gotten close to some pals at Chrysalis or something.

"Well, folks, better go join up with those other Chrysalis jarheads," said Frank. "You know where to find me, Rach. Wish I brought the power armor. It would've made me a killing machine gladiator in this war."

"I'm pretty sure you don't, Frank," said Rachel. "I'm pretty certain you don't."

David gave me a pat on the shoulder before he took off and as soon as Frank took off. The Afghan vet wanted to wish me luck on this suicide journal that could be my last day on earth. In fact, everyone's last day on earth before we know it.

"Good luck, Caulfield," said David. "You too, Chloe. I wish the both of you brave soldiers to go forth and fight strong. You have my respect and I've underestimated your courage and you've exceeded my expectation in this fight. You've earned it."

"Thanks, David," I say. "I'm glad you can see it that way."

Chloe turned to her ex as soon as her step-dad took off.

"So you've actually made some friends with Chrysalis, haven't you?" asked Chloe. "Now I know why you bailed on me. Enough said."

Rachel sighed.

"I didn't lie to you because I was too scared to tell the truth," said Rachel. "I lied to you because it wasn't my choice."

"I don't want to hear it, Rachel. There's always a choice."

"Chrysalis didn't want me to reveal my affiliations with them. That's why I lied to you. You don't need to believe me and I'm not asking you to. But it's the truth. You know the truth now and that's all I have left to say to you."

"You come back to life, Rachel. And for what? You lie to me twice and then somehow I'm supposed to forgive you twice? Not by a long shot. No offense, but maybe you were better off staying dead. We can argue about this after this is over. I'm all done believing what you have to say."

Chloe walked away from us. Rachel stands next to me in shame. I couldn't blame Chloe for her attitude. I'd be just as pissed as her if I had more history with Rachel than she did.

"She's grateful you know," I said to Rachel. "But you still betrayed us you know. Now's just not the time for beating ourselves over it."

"Max, I need you to promise me something," she began. "If I don't make it, tell Chloe and Frank I still love them. And my parents back home. And be sure to send Pompidou my love too. And you'll get this done right?"

"We'll get this done, Rachel. You and me."

"Yeah, but - if don't - I helped get us this far. And that's close enough for this to count right?"

"Count for what?"

"For...I don't know. Just - for all the bad I've done."

"Rachel, I get it. We all betray one another at times. Shit happens. But we all make up for those kind of mistakes and we all make sure those mistakes weren't for nothing. You know it, I know it, and so does Chloe. Even Frank does so too."

Rachel shook her head.

"I'm not the person I said I was at Blackwell, Max. I was an utter fraud. I manipulated people to my mind trick power, faked my own death and alienated Chloe when she needed me the most, and now I've just sold you all out to Crosby. What good of a friend am I to anyone in my life?"

"Good friends mean well. You just can't always do well. It's something I've learned since I left Arcadia Bay years back. But I kept pushing forward. In the end, it all paid off."

Rachel let out a smile and chuckle on her face. Supposedly, what I said to her made her feel better.

"Hey," she said. "Let's go save the world, Super Max."

After what she called, I return a smile back to her. It was time to go save the world like the Avengers. That it was, indeed.

 **Note: I should tell my readers why this took me more time to write. First off, this is the finale and I won't half ass it. Second, I have friend of mine named Clem on this site who disagrees but respects my ideal of writing a COD-esque episode. I just want everyone to know that I haven't forgotten what the true meaning of LIS is and I never will. This episode will have some emotion to it and that's what should make a good action packed episode. Even though it was never the main of LIS. Wish me luck in finishing this finale. I'm one with the force, the force is with me.**

 **Until next time, stay golden!**

 **P.S. That Cayce character will be in the anthology fic and the sequel. So will Lt. Mason.**


	10. Big Trouble In Little China Town

Chapter 10 Big Trouble in Little China Town

Max

April 23, 2014

7:02 PM

Portland, Oregon

Old China Town

I board a CH-47 chopper with Chloe, Captain Cage, Lieutenant Mason, and some other troops on my team. Rachel, Frank, David, that Cayce guy we met earlier, and other troops board another CH-47 helicopter. I took my seat inside the carrier next to Chloe and both choppers had taken off for Portland. Our choppers were en route to Old China Town for phase one of our operation to take down Neo-Chrysalis and their plot to burn this world to the ground.

I was still thinking about Chloe's anger with Rachel. It was like she said, she never wanted to talk about it until this mission was over. I just hope Chloe gets her shit together and not let Rachel's deception get in the way of the mission. Still, I couldn't blame her. Rest assured, I knew Chloe couldn't remotely just let that distract her from this operation. Despite being a person to not let grievances go, she couldn't keep running away. She had to face the truth and accept responsibility. That's the only way she was going to get her shit together. The only way to let her old wounds heal.

Chloe took a smoke of some of her weed on the ride to the Portland China Town. Every time Chloe would smoke next to me, I may catch a little bit of her passive smoking taking a wiff of her drugs. The choppers were getting closer to China Town. We were going to make the drop onto one of the tenement building close to the Ace of Spades in a few minutes from now. Meaning we would be getting ourselves into some more heavy fighting soon. A voice came on the radio which was HQ back in Beaverton commanding our operation.

 _"HQ to Alpha Team, no change to your mission. Suppress the quantum terror attack while proceeding to point Ace of Spades."_

"Roger that," responded Cage. "Preparing to drop on the Eight of Clubs. We'll make our way to the Ace of Spades and find those U.N. Workers. Cage out. Listen up soldiers, we're going to drop down to one of the tenement buildings in China Town. Once we get down there, we hold off enemy infantry down the streets and push forward to the Ace of Spades. Intel shows we have an anti-aircraft gun on top the building and hostages trapped inside. We've also got reports of time stutters that have just recently occurred in the city from our striker units. So be sure to activate your chronon belts as soon as we're grounded."

"Captain, I have time powers," I remind him. "Time stutters won't work on me. I don't think I'll be needing this belt."

"It's not your job to question orders, Caulfield," replied Cage. "Everybody lock and load. We're almost at the drop point and it's gonna be a hell of a joyride between here and phase three. That means you, Caulfield. You too, Price. Ooh rah?"

"Ooh rah!" the soldier said in unison.

"Ooh hella rah, Captain," said Chloe. "Send my step-hero my regards."

"Madsen, is that Rachel girl and her boyfriend able to handle themselves?" asked Cage.

 _"You know it,"_ replied David.

 _"Raise me on the horn when you need me, Cage,"_ said Rachel. _"I'll be your best friend out there with a sharp trigger finger and a sharp crosshair."_

 _"Still know how to put your eye on the crosshairs, don't you?"_ said Cayce.

 _"I've seen her take out an a assault chopper single handedly,"_ said Frank. _"Don't underestimate my girl."_

 _"You took out another chopper by yourself?!"_ asked Cayce.

 _"Remember Bolivia, Cayce?"_ asked Rachel. _"It's just like that only this time by hand and not down the barrel or crosshairs of a sniper rifle."_

 _"Did you just say Bolivia?"_ asked David. _"What was Rachel Amber doing in Bolivia?"_

 _"Long story short, Civil War related to a cult group worshipping another cult group. That's what."_

"Am I still supposed to believe a word you say, Rachel?" asked Chloe.

 _"I swear on our friendship bracelets, Chloe, it's not hella BS. I've said this once and I'll say it again. We'll talk about it later."_

"It's a little late to swearing it now, Rachel," said Chloe. "After breaking your promise you made back at the estate, it's too late for that now. Chloe out."

Our chopper had reached it's drop point and came to a stop above the tenement buildings. A solider on the rooftops lit up flares to signal where to land the chopper. The ramp on the CH-47 was open and ropes were dropped down for us to rappel down off the chopper and onto the roof. Every one of us, myself and Chloe included, all rappelled down to the roof single file. Chloe had armed herself with a SIG 556 rifle for better odds. I armed myself with a dark colored AK-47. Alpha Two's chopper landed on the side of the tenements. David's group must be getting into position right now. Rachel must be finding a good sniping spot to overwatch our positions We were now all on the roof and ready to fight.

 _"You sure you don't need any backup out there, Rachel?"_ asked Cayce.

 _"I work faster on my own,"_ she replied. _"I'll find a good sniping position shortly."_

 _"Don't you die on me, babe,"_ said Frank. _"You may be a badass but your not invincible."_

My team proceed down the half built tenement building we land on to push forward. More comm chatter comes on when we descend to the bottom floor.

 _"Echo to HQ! We've encountered hostiles at Diamond Three!"_

 _"HQ copy."_

 _"Lynch to Alpha. I'll be your little birdie in the sky again incase you need me. Standing by for orders."_

"Copy, Lynch," said Cage. "Meet us at the Ace of Spades when we get there. Alpha out."

 _"This is Lockheed to all Chrysalis boots on the ground. Our AC-130 is armed and standing by for tasking. We'll be your eye in the sky when you need us."_

 _Copy, Lockheed,"_ replied Mason. _"We may require you at the Ace of Spades. Alpha Team out."_

"Mason, take point," said Cage.

"Roger," said Mason.

Chloe and I stand behind the exit out of the building with soldiers standing between the doors to kick them open. Lieutenant Mason took point and kicked the door open to proceed down the streets of China Town. A news reporter and a camera man stood in front of the door to capture footage of the fighting and a possible comment from my team.

"Chrysalis troops have arrived at the scene," the male journalist said with his microphone. "Excuse me, can I get a comment, please? Excuse me!"

Everyone including us ignored the reporter. Fuck the media. We all just walked past the press to concentrate on the fighting. Chloe impolitely shoved the camera man away from her by knocking the camera down with her rude hand. The reporter persisted on me with his microphone for a comment, but then again just walked away.

"Is this attack related to the one from Arcadia?" the journalist tried asking. "Is Chrysalis involved there as well?"

As we pushed on, there were civilians running down the streets retreating from the commodity. I sigh and take a good look around. Why did I even bother with you, Crosby? What have you done to my favorite childhood city in Oregon? All that pep talk and father figurative speeches about affection without tragedy and power without limits just to lure me into another atrocity worse than Arcadia. I've already made the mistake of trusting father figures twice, I'd be lucky to never repeat my mistake the third time.

"All civilians, clear out of the way!" ordered Cage to the civvies running around like chickens.

There were a bunch of locals running around, cars parked out of place and set on fire, military vehicles cruising the street, fires lighting up the tenement buildings like jack-o-lanterns, and desecrated Chinese architecture in sight. There were also some Chinese lanterns and lit up like Christmas lights with electronic signs and build boards written in American and Chinese alphabet. We've now just waltz right into hell on Earth in this Chinese district of Portland.

"Come in, HQ," called in Lieutenant Mason. "Route 4 is a mix of civvies and hostiles. Got anything else?"

Before HQ could answer, an explosion in front of two military hummers sent the vehicles and a few soldiers flying backward and tipping the trucks upside down. We all knew this hellhole wasn't going to be a cake walk from the start. It was likely to be a one way trip.

"Son of a-" said Chloe, reacting to the explosions.

 _"Alpha One, switch course from Route Four to Route Niner. Head to the destination through the building in the Six of Clubs."_

The entry to the Six of Clubs was just next to us to our left. I run over there with Chloe and the other soldiers to the entry and a civilian knelt on the ground grabs me by the waste and hollers.

"Get off me!" I tell the local, while trying to shove him away.

A solider in my unit helps me remove the local away from me and stands on one side of the door to break in. I stand behind the other soldiers with Chloe ready to break through.

"Mason, take point," the Captain ordered.

The Lieutenant kicked the doors open and we enter through single file. While proceeding through another shitty tenement building HQ referred to as the Six of Clubs, more radio chatter came on.

 _"HQ to all teams. Alpha One is en route to Ace of Spades. After they rendezvous with Alpha Two, we will proceed with the operation as planned."_

 _"HQ, this is Rachel Amber. I've split up from Alpha Two and proceeding up to the rooftops for sniper support. I'll be covering for both Alpha One and Two if need be."_

 _"Affirmative, Amber. Be careful out there. Both Alpha teams are trusting you with this one. HQ out."_

"Rachel better know what she's doing," said Chloe. "Next thing I know she'll snipe us in the back."

"Let it go, Chloe," I said. "Let's keep our minds on the fight and not her trust."

We then hear David's voice on the comm chatter.

 _"Alpha Two to HQ. We're currently engaged with hostiles at the Four of Hearts. It's not looking good. Requesting immediate back up!"_

 _"Copy that. HQ to Alpha One - assist Alpha Two at the Four of Hearts."_

"Roger that, HQ," replied Captain Cage. "Alpha One out."

While pushing through the tenement, we enter an ally where we see some mercenaries execute the civvies out of nowhere. There were two people on their knees and hands behind their heads. The mercs aimed their guns at the innocents and shot them down like stray dogs. They just ran off with no remorse.

"If they're killing unarmed civilians," I said. "They're really going to love us."

The tenements lead us through the ally. The ally leads us into the streets. The streets lead us into another firefight. When we're back on the streets again, another chopper flies by overhead to where mercenaries are posted up front. Out of nowhere, a merc is armed with an RPG and fires away at the helicopter blowing it out of the sky.

"Oh shit!" Chloe reacts to the blown helo.

And like every other chopper I've seen get destroyed, it spins out of control and hits a building. Then collapses from the building, topples onto a bunch of cars, and lights the streets on fire. Exactly what I expect to see in this Neo-Chrys invasion of Portland.

"We've go to put an end to this mess!" I shout.

 _"Alpha One, proceed along route niner,"_ said HQ. _"Take a back alley to get to the Ace of Spades."_

We cut through another alley away from the fire to reach our destination. I needed something to kill in this battle. I was getting bored of the monotony of helicopters blown up like fireworks already. I still Chloe fighting by my side though. At least there was that.

"You know, I figured you'd be a little rusty," said Chloe. "But it looks like your fighting skills are kicking right in."

"Can the chatter," I said. "You ready?"

When proceeding through another alley, David's voice was heard again on comm.

 _"Alpha to HQ! We can't hold them off! Retreating from Diamond Three!"_

 _"HQ to Alpha Two! Requesting immediate status update! What's going on?!"_

 _"We're overwhelmed! There's too many of them! We've got no choice! We have to fall back!"_

"Shit, Max," said Chloe. "We have to help them! Captain, we to help David others now!"

"You're not in a position to give orders, Price!" said Cage. "Let's move it people! We've got to help the other half of our team!"

We enter a dark meat locker when cutting through the slums in China Town. When we're inside, everyone has their guns pointed at every corner to check the perimeter. When we check all our corners, we could hear growling and hurling from somewhere inside. Like the sound of a zombie moaning around. A foreboding figure appeared out of the shadows an into the dim lighting. I already knew what it was. It was one of demons Captain Cage referred to as Fallen. The demons coming from Elysium. The same demons we fought on the freeway.

This meat room had been horded with Fallen as we could see more walking humanoid demons stepping into the light. I raise my rifle in the air to get ready fire. Little do I know there was a demon walking into my direction ready to attack me. Luckily, before I can turn around to notice it, the demon caught Chloe's eye and alerted her.

"Max!" she shouted.

I quickly turn behind me to see the demon ready to strike me and pin. I jumped as soon I caught sight at such short notice. Luckily, Chloe shoots the demon as it blows away into dust in the wind before I completely let my guard down.

"Open fire!" shouted the Captain.

Then everyone starts firing bullets from their rifles to take out the rest of the demons. There were too many of them to handle. Chloe had to shove me out of the way before I could even press my finger on the trigger on a single Fallen. I'm knocked down on the ground when Chloe pushes me to the side to save me and the assault rifles go off.

And then I see snow on the ground again. I'm hallucinating again at the worst time possible. A mirage of snow on the floor and crows hawking around. Then the voice of Chronos.

 _"Listen only to the sound of my voice. Let your mind relax. Let your thoughts drift. Let the bad memories fade. Let peace be upon you."_

"Max!" shouted Chloe, as I snap out of the mirage. "Max get the fuck up! We're under attack!"

I snap back into reality and back into the fight. I shoot a couple of Fallen until the fight's over.

"Alpha One to HQ, we've just encountered Fallen hostiles!" shouted Mason.

"Shoot them!" ordered Cage. "Keep them back!"

I hold off as many Fallen as I can and then the encounter is done. I had no idea what those things were or why they were called fallen or why they came from Elysium, but they were going to give me nightmares worse than one I had up to the lighthouse. They were some soldiers that ended up wounded in the encounter. They had to be treated.

"All clear," said Mason.

"You two, stay here and tend to the wounded," ordered Cage.

"What were those things, Captain?" I asked. "You said they were Fallen right? Could you clarify?"

"Not now, Caulfield," said Cage. "We need to move."

"HQ, Alpha One reporting," said Mason. "I've got six of us heading along Route Niner."

We had almost reached our destination. All of us take a fire escape to the rooftops in order to proceed to the Ace of Spades and to take a lighter route since the slums and allies had to much heat on us. When we got to the roofs, we good actually see the Ace of Spades building from on top. There also the anti-aircraft gun we had to dispose of too. We could see it on the roof up top shooting missiles in the air.

 _"HQ to Alpha Team. That tenement building up ahead is the Ace of Spades. The U.N. staff that have been take hostage are inside. There's also the anti-aircraft gun mounted on top. You'll take it out so our FA38s are in the clear. But first things first, you'll need to extract the hostages before Lockheed could take it out."_

"There gonna use that big birdie in the sky to blow the building up?" Chloe questioned. "That's a little unorthodox don't you think?"

"Dark times call for extreme measures, Price," said Cage. "Move out."

 _"Alpha One, this is Amber. I've finally found a good vantage point on this rooftops. I can see you all via my scope."_

"Well it's about time, Rachel," said Chloe. "You know step-daddy could've used a finger to be lifted back when him and Alpha Two was overrun."

 _"Relax, Chloe. I've contacted them and they made it out okay. Few casualties, but none of them are step-daddy, Frank, or Cayce. If this is about trust again, now's the worst time to bring it up."_

"Do what you can, Rachel," I said. "Scope out for any boogies you see on these roofs."

 _"Roger."_

My team and I push through the rooftops and I made out like Kurt Russell in Big Trouble in Little China. There were mercs posted on the roofs and we were going to have more heat to cool down. While Chloe, the rest of my team, and I fend for ourselves, we start seeing Rachel's sniper bullets fly by and the ringing of her bullets echo thirty feet from afar. I could see a small reflection flare shine in the distance which had been the reflection of Rachel's glass on the scope. We both embraced the monotony of Rachel "The Sniper" Amber hogging up our kills. I did manage to make some kills with my auto-rifle and so did Chloe. But it was Rachel that had the highest kill streak.

"Take it easy there, Rachel," said Chloe. "Give the rest of us a chance, will ya?"

 _"You ladies shoot like storm troopers,"_ she commented. _"I learned that one from Cage's sense of sarcasm. Right Captain?"_

The Captain chuckled.

"Right you are, Amber," he replied. "Right you are."

 _"Charlie One to HQ. We've grouped up with Alpha Two and are awaiting new orders."_

 _"Things aren't going too well for Alpha One at the Three of Diamonds. They need you down there."_

 _"Roger that."_

We get up higher and higher on the roofs and find a dead end. Then there was pole we could use to zip-line across from our roof to the other. The Captain suggested Chloe could zip-line to the other roofs and regroup at the Ace of Spades.

"Caulfield, Price, why don't you two zip-line to the other side," he said. "The rest of us can regroup with the both of ya at Ace."

"You want us to just zip-line across?" I ask. "I've never zip-lined anywhere before ya know."

"Neither have I, Max," said Chloe. "But we're gonna have to anyways."

"No way."

"Way."

"Chloe, no!"

Like the jackass she used to be, Chloe uses her gun to zip-line on the pole. Having no other choice, I had to go to. Chloe makes it to the other side safely and Cage and the rest of his men took off without us. I mount my gun on the pole and start zip-lining across the narrow gap. Before I could make it across, however, someone with a rocket launcher was about to take my ass out. The merc fired away.

The rocket missed me but hit the line causing me to fall off the pole and almost fatally fall to my doom. Luckily, Chloe is able to grab my hand on the ledge from the other side, but I loose her grasp and fall down anyway. Even more luckily, there was a poll connected in the gap between the roof that broke my fall. I hang as tight as I could before falling away again.

"Max!" Chloe shouts. "Max are you okay?!"

"I'm fine!" I shout back. "I guess the muscle memory save me there!"

I had no other option but to monkey climb on the poll to get back on the roof. To make matter even more tedious, mercenary crash through the windows of the tenement balconies and starting shooting me off the poll. I needed some backup.

"Hey, Chloe! I'm taking fire here! I saved your ass! Wanna return the favor?!"

"No shit!"

Chloe finds herself a good angle to take the heat out and shoots the mercs attempting my life. As I reach the other side, more mercs come out of the balconies up front when Chloe deals with the other ones. Of course, Chloe shoots the mercs on the balconies up front when I almost reach the other side climbing on the poll. I'm glad all that training I've done for myself for six months had paid off because I wouldn't have been able to make this climb otherwise. Chloe makes sure I'm in the clear and I make to the other side when the mercs are down. Now all I needed to do was regroup with Chloe and the rest of my team on the roofs.

"I'm gonna need a hand here," I said on comm. "Make you way back to me ASAP."

 _"We'll radio HQ for backup,"_ said the Lieutenant. _"You two proceed to the Ace of Spades."_

"Roger."

I climb up a ladder off the wood work from the tenement building I'm on to get back on the roof and rejoin Chloe. Once I'm on the roof, more shooting stars hit the roof I'm standing on and summon more of those Fallen. But this time, there's an upgrade to one of the Fallen. One of the demons ignites itself liking a burning candle and into a more powerful and upgraded foe.

 _"Assuming direct control of this form,"_ the voice of Chronos said. _"Stop Max Caulfield at any cost. Preserve her body if possible."_

It was no doubt Chronos was in control of the form he had possessed from one of his minions. Why exactly would they want to preserve my body for?"

"Where the hell do they keep coming from?" I ask myself. "Rachel, can I get some cover?"

 _"No problem, Max."_

While Rachel covers me taking out the minions, the inferno Fallen minion controlled by Chronos is the one I had to worry about. The possessed Fallen was able to teleport it's way around and throw fireballs. I try shooting at the demon, but my shots are missed. The demon teleports in front of me and gets the upper hand by pinning me down the ground.

I struggle against my own will with the controlled minion as I try tugging it back with my rifle, but the alien demon was stronger than me. Ten times stronger than me. So strong, it growled and roared at me and almost bit my face off. Then a little blue jay had come to the rescue from the grotesque being by taking out the rampaging demon and shooting it's face off via sniper bullet. That was twice the sniperette had to save me from the Fallen.

 _"That's the second time I save your skin from those alien demons,"_ said Rachel. _"You can't be letting your guard down like that, Max. You'll get yourself killed."_

"Can the chatter, Rachel," I tell her. "I still got more to handle."

 _"HQ to Alpha Two, Alpha One needs to move out to the Ace of Spades. Can you relieve them?"_

 _"Roger,"_ replied David on the radio. _"Coming in from the Four of Hearts. En route to assist."_

There were more Fallen demons to be taken care of while pushing through the roofs. I had to fend off the Fallen via my AK and my powers. This advanced race of demons reminded me of Final Fantasy in some ways. Both Spirits Within and the video game franchise. I had to get to Chloe. She wouldn't be able to fend these demons off on her own.

I hear gunshots from an auto-rifle someplace close. Then I see Chloe firing her SIG at some Fallen and was about to overrun. The most obvious thing to do was to help her hold them off. I start shooting my auto-rifle at the alien demons to assist her. Not even a few of Chronos's minions were going to drop Super Max and Wonder Chlo. We held off as much as we could until there was no more left. I shoot the last bit Fallen and the coast was clear.

"Took you long enough, Max," said Chloe. "I was starting to think you forgot about me, babe."

"When will I ever forget about you, babe?" I said. "Let's move out. The rest of the team is waiting for us at Ace."

 **Note: So I guess I'll be starting next chapter when they enter the Ace of Spades tower to rescue the UN hostages and destroy the AA gun on top. A friend of mine had told me that writing action is not the same as playing it in a game or watching it in a movie. And he's right. When the chapters are extra long, it could take even longer to write all. Be sure to tell that to all the screenplay writers who write all the scripted events in action games or movies or whatever.**

 **There's still a lot more action sequences that need to get done and believe me readers. I'll be sure to tone down the action in this episode when I'm ready to do so. I know what I'm doing.**

 **Another thing, I've referenced some events that will occur in my anthology fiction. And those alien demons summoned by Chronos are called Fallen. If you've played Destiny, that's what I've named them after.**

 **Until next time, stay golden!**


	11. Ace of Spades

Chapter 11 Ace of Spades

Chloe

April 23, 2014

7:45 PM

Portland, Oregon

Old China Town

 _"HQ to Alpha Team. You're almost at the Ace of Spades."_

 _"Copy that HQ,"_ said Cage. _"Caulfield, Price, you two still in one piece?"_

"Barely," replied Max. "Price and I took some heat, but we'll survive. We'll meet you at the Ace of Spades. Caulfield out."

The two of us push through rooftops en route to Ace of Spades. Jumping over more roofs and escalating more woodwork. I had first met the Captain and his Lieutenant back when they visited my house and got in trouble for helping Max escape the Blackwell raid. Even though they both didn't appreciate Max spilling the blood of their men, they ended up blaming themselves for taking shoot-to-kill orders from Prescott. A hypocritical and corrupt business man turned politician who thought his corrupt talk could manipulate the people of Arcadia to antagonize Max and someone who smuggled contraband to terrorist. The blood was more on Prescott's hands than it was on Max's.

We finally arrive at the Ace of Spades tower, but we were the first and only ones to make it there. No sign of the rest Alpha One or Alpha Two. We were on our own until everyone else could fall in.

"Max to HQ, we're at the Ace of Spades but Alpha One and Alpha Two have not yet arrived. Standing by for arrival."

 _"Copy that. Bravo Team has been dispatched to link up with the rest of Alpha to assist with search and rescue. Standby for instructions."_

"Good, I needed a break," I said.

While waiting for the rest of the team to arrive, a spotlight lit up on the woodwork. More mercenaries had arrived to shoot at us.

"Dammit!" said Max.

"Shit, we've been spotted!" I shout. "They're right on top of us!"

We both get behind something and start shooting more mercs wanting to make easy money off of our deaths. Max calls in HQ for a distress call.

"Max to HQ! We're pinned down by mercenaries outside Ace of Spades! Requesting immediate assistance!"

 _"HQ to Alpha and Bravo Team. Caulfield and Price are surrounded by hostiles. Get to the Ace of Spades on the double!"_

Mercs were shooting at us from the upper corner on the woodwork of the building with AK's and Dragunovs. Then more sniper bullets engaged on the mercs. We could see the enemies collapse off the railing when the bullets penetrate through their skin and falter to the lower ground. There was certainly more where that came from.

 _"If you wanted to request immediate assistance, you could've asked,"_ said Rachel.

"How far can you shoot with that rifle, Rachel?" I ask.

 _"This scope has a zoom-in and zoom-out feature for a reason, Chloe,"_ she answered. _"I'll cover for you until everyone else gets back."_

 _"Max, Chloe, it's David! We've regrouped with Cage and joined Bravo Team! We're moving as fast as we can! Keep your panties on everyone!"_

"Roger that, David!" I respond. "We'll do what we can until you get here!"

Max uses her time blast to knock down the woodwork the mercs were posted at to take them down. The supports had faltered from the impact of Max's blast and the woodwork was leveled down immobilizing the mercs' guard down. The enemy had been disemboweled into a pile of wood from the disembarked woodwork ridding them from shooting at us, but the fight wasn't done yet.

Grappling hooks had clung onto the roof. More mercs were climbing up to the roof to attack us. We got our guns ready to fight more baddies. Wherever step-hero was, he needed to get his ass over here with others as quick as possible. We couldn't take these commie assholes down on our own. At least we still had Rachel backing us up 3 clicks from Ace. She kept covering us with her bullets from afar as the two of us lay down some fire on our current enemies.

"How many of these assholes do we have to kill?!" I mutter.

"Where the hell's that backup is the real question?!" muttered Max.

 _"I'm running out of ammo guys!"_ said Rachel. _"I don't have all the sniper ammo in the world to be killing all the commie freaks in the world!"_

Then a friendly helicopter had swooped by to save the day. Three helicopters in fact. One which was carrying Alpha and the other one carrying Bravo Team.

 _"What's up, ladies?"_ said Frank on comm. _"Happy to see us?"_

 _"Alpha, Bravo, weapons hot!"_ ordered Cage. _"Don't leave any mercenary standing!"_

Bravo and Alpha rappelled down from the helicopter and to the rescue. We could see David, Frank, Cage, Mason, and Cayce rappel down on the ground and shoot down with their rifles. The Calvary had shown up in the nick of time before we were overrun.

"Finally!" I say.

"Choose your targets and let's finish this!" ordered David.

Our reinforcements had eliminated the remainder of the heat and all the mercs had been disposed of and accounted for. When we were all in the clear, the choppers took off and it was time to breach into the Ace of Spades.

"HQ, all hostiles neutralized," said Cage. "Caulfield and Price are secure."

 _"Alpha Team, help Bravo Team get the civvies out of there."_

Max

April 23, 2014

7:05 PM

Portland, Oregon

Ace of Spades

The whole crowd of soldiers bust through the entry to the Ace of Spades building to begin the first phase of our operation. Everyone including my partner in crime and I stormed into the building to check every corner of the front hall before proceeding further. This building had multiple floors up above. A good place I could use my time vision to scope out the hostages.

 _"HQ to Alpha, we have your mission brief. Rescue the hostages on the first and seventh floors, then take care of the AA gun and get out of the building. As soon as all teams are clear, Lockheed will commence bombing."_

"Roger that, HQ," said Cage. "Progressing mission as planned. Alpha out. Caulfield, I'm letting you and your friend do this voluntarily. Which job do you prefer? Save the hostage or destroy the AA gun?"

 **X/SQUARE/LM - SAVE THE HOSTAGES**

 **B/CIRCLE/RM - DESTROY THE AA GUN**

"I'm saving the hostages with Chloe," I answer. "Someone else can handle the AA gun."

"Madsen, take some of my men and go with the girls to rescue the UN workers," ordered Cage. "Bowers, go with Foley and Bravo to cover the entrance. Mason and I will go up on top to decommission the AA gun. Let's move out."

"You heard the Captain everyone," said David. "Fan out and search the hostages."

"I've had better jobs to do than cover doors," said Frank.

Everyone including us had our orders and did as instructed. Frank went out with Rachel's ex-partner Cayce and Bravo Team. Cage and Mason went up the stairs with some of Alpha Team to the roof to disable the AA gun. Chloe, David, the rest of Alpha, and I took the stairs to the first floor to rescue the UN hostages.

I use my time vision to scan for hostages when going up the stairwell to the seventh floor. I can see orange glowing auras via the heat signature of my time vision. The auras were of PMC's and hostages locked up in a room. That's where we needed to go.

"David, HQ was right," I said. "The hostages are up there. We need to move now."

"I know what HQ said, Max," said David. "Now get behind me."

David takes point and leads us up to the seventh floor. When we reach the door to the room with the hostages inside, it was time to breach in. Chloe and I line up behind one corner of the door with other soldiers and a soldier mounts a charge on the door to break in. David is in charge of the group and orders the soldier to blow it when ready. Then the charge is blown and we've now breached the room.

Every one of us storms into the hostage room in bullet and make out like John Woo. Soldiers shoot their guns at the PMC mercs without harming the hostages tied down on the floor. David kills a merc aiming for him before he shoots him, Chloe kills a merc attempting to stab her with an army knife, I killed merc holding a hostage in his arms by shooting him dead across the forehead. All hostile were gunned down and every hostage in the room was safe and accounted for.

"Alpha to HQ," David called in. "Seventh floor hostages secured."

 _"Cage to HQ. AA gun has been neutralized. I repeat, AA gun has been neutralized."_

 _"Roger that. There's one more batch of hostages on the first floor. Don't forget about them before the bombing starts."_

"WILCO," replied David. "Moving down to secure first floor hostages. Madsen out."

With no time to loose, my team secures the hostages and we rush our way back to the stairwell and run down the steps to the first floor. I turn on my time vision again to scan the building for the hostages. The glowing auras detect the mercenaries and hostages in a room on first. Just like HQ informed us.

"David, I've detected at least six mercenaries and four hostages on first," I tell him. "I've just detected them with my powers."

"Noted, Max," said David. "Now keep up and fall in line, soldier."

There goes his soldier boy talk again. Can't say I blame him since it's easy for him to go to his military lingo now he's back in the army again. The Chrysalis army that is. Not the marine corps. We reach the first floor and the hostages were below the floor. Cage and his other men who recently destroyed the AA gun were prepared to leave the building before the AC-130 bombing.

 _"This is Alpha One,"_ said Cage. _"We're clear of the building."_

 _"HQ here, copy."_

 _"Bravo to HQ,"_ said Cayce. _"We're in retreat from the building to stand clear of the bombing when it initiates. Standing by."_

 _"Affirmative, Bravo. Alpha is still on premises. Bombing will start once they're clear."_

"Madsen to HQ. We've located the hostages and preparing to breach as we speak. You can commence bombing once they're secure."

 _"Noted, Madsen. Standing by."_

The soldiers set up the charges on the floor to breach through the ceiling. We stand clear away from the charges before they're set off. Everyone including the two of us squats down to prepare for breaching. The charges explode and the floor collapses. We all come falling down the floor below us with ruble crumbling down like cereal, hostages shrieking from the breach, and bullets showering down on the mercenaries.

I've never been such a badass in my whole life when it comes to Matrix style bullet time. David uses his typical military wits to kill the mercenaries guarding the hostages. Chloe acts as the badass she's always been at heart, I aim my sights with cautious and deadly accuracy at a merc holding a hostage in his arms and gun against her head and my bullet penetrates the skull of my enemy. Turning Max Caulfield into Max Payne. The Wachowski bros should see me now.

My team and I had cleaned house and saved the hostages thanks to our skills with bullet time. David calls in HQ to debrief our success and prep for bombing.

"First floor hostages are secure," reported David.

 _"Copy that, Alpha. Now clear out of there."_

We let all the hostages out of the building leave them with other soldiers to protect. David reported in to HQ to prep the bombing.

"Come in HQ. All hostages are okay. Alpha Team is clear."

 _"Copy that. Commencing with bombing."_

 _"This is Lockheed to all units present to Ace of Spades. We are beginning bombing. Advise withdraw from the building immediately for safe distance."_

We immediately make for the exit on first. David and the other soldiers make it out, but we don't. Before Chloe and I walk out, debris from the building collapses and blocks the exit. We were now separated from David and the rest of our unit and Lockheed had started the bombing.

"Shit, we're trapped," I said. "What the hell do we do now?"

"I don't know," said Chloe.

 _"Chloe, Max, you got to find another way out of there now!"_ David warned. _"Lockheed has already commenced the bombing!"_

 _"HQ to Caulfield and Price. You can get out on the third floor. There's a balcony on the west side of the building. Get moving!"_

Without another thought, we make a run for the third floor before Lockheed could holocaust us to death. Chloe and I run up the stair well again to make our escape for the AC-130 could eighty-six the building apart.

 _"Caulfield, Price, get out of there now! Preparations to bomb are complete. Lockheed has the locked on this instant."_

"We don't want to be here when that AC-130 showers us to death!" yelled Chloe. "Let's go! Go, go, go!"

Once we're on the third floor, a missile had already dropped onto to the building and tore a chunk of the balcony. We had to get the fuck out of here this instant.

"They've started bombing!" I yell. "Guess they don't care we're still in here!"

"It's not personnel!" shouts Chloe. "You know the mission takes priority!"

Another missile was fired from above and took out the ceiling. Death from above was nothing compared from below and we weren't going to have this written on our epitaphs. Not a single letter.

"This isn't gonna last long!" I shout. "Move!"

Just when we start sprinting to the balcony, machine turret bullets from a thousand feet in the air was now ripping the building into shreds just to put more pressure on our ass. Lockheed had gotten us completely zeroed and we would not tolerate friendly fire. The floor started to collapse from the turret fire and rockets. We had to get out the balcony quick.

"The place is falling apart!" muttered Chloe.

"Hurry!" I shout. "Chloe go around it!"

"Roger!"

There was a big gap between our side and the balcony's but there was a way around before we could miss our window. We sprint for the window before we miss it. Once we reach the window, it was time to jump off the balcony for the eye in the sky could topple this building for good. An incoming missile from the sky was ready to take the final blow to the building and Chloe and I jumped for it before it blew us to dust.

We made out like Will Smith and Martin Lawrence from Bad Boys and jumped off the edgy in the nick of time as the missile misses us and the explosion forced us off the building. The two of us holler in mid-air, roll on the ground when we land, than get back on our feet and sprint to safety before one last missile is fired to devastate the Ace tower for good. We jump away from the exploding building when the last missile make takes one last blast to the building ensuring the success of the bombing.

When we try and get back on out feet again, I hallucinate another mirage again. Snow covers the ground through the fire of the burning building caused by the bombing and Crows were flying around through my keen eyes doing the usual. And Chronos's voice echoed through my eardrums another time.

 _"Surrender yourself to your dreams. Let them wash over you like the gentle waves of the bluest ocean. Let them envelop you. Comfort you."_

 **Note: I've really been working so hardly writing my ass off in this Michael Bay-esque LIS fan fiction episode and I hope my work isn't for nothing. That's all I have to say.** **In other words, expect more heavy duty action to come in the following chapters.**

 **Until next time, stay golden!**


	12. Rise

Chapter 12 Rise

Max

April 23, 2014

8:18 PM

Portland, Oregon

Old China Town

"Max, you okay?" asked Chloe, as I snap out of the mirage.

"I'm fine," I answer. "Got a little cooked, but I'm okay."

I take Chloe's hand to help myself off the ground. Then David runs by knowing we made it out the building alive.

"Max! Chloe! You're alive, thank god!" he said. "Don't you two separate from me like that again! You could've been killed!"

"The hell happened to you two?!" asked Cage running after us too. "You know what could've happened if we lost you too in there?! Do you?!"

"Hey, it's not like we did that on purpose, okay?!" Chloe mutters. "We're fine!"

 _"HQ to Alpha. Charlie, Delta, and Echo are taking heavy fire at Pioneer Square. That's where you'll to break the second Neo-Chrys line of defense. You better get to it if you want to save the other teams."_

"Copy, HQ," said Cage. "Lockheed just took care of Ace of Spades for us. We'll be starting the next phase of this operation shortly. Alpha out."

"Don't make us regret bringing you two over here!" scolded David. "You two wanted to be mature enough to fight in this fight, start acting like it!"

 _"Chloe, Max, speak to me!"_ said Rachel on comm. _"Are you there?!"_

"We're fine, Rachel," I respond. "Barely."

 _"Thank god. Thought I lost you two in that bombing. I made my down from the roofs and regrouped with Frank, Cayce, and their team. From what I hear, it's time for phase two of this operation."_

"Right you are. We'll see you shortly. Max out."

"Everyone get to the LZ!" shouted Cage. "Let's move! Go! Go!"

It was time get to the landing zone where CH-47s would be waiting for us there to take us to pioneer square. Chloe, David, Captain Cage and I went with alpha on one chopper. Rachel, Frank, Lieutenant Mason, and Cayce went with Bravo on another chopper. The choppers landed somewhere in the slums of China Town to pick us up. My team enters the chopper and we take our seats inside. Rachel's team does the same and our birds ascend off the ground and in the air again. We hear more comm chatter once we're on board.

 _"This is Lynch. I'm coming around Pearl District to get to Pioneer Square for air support. I'll be supporting Alpha and the other teams to take the AA gun down."_

We see Lynch's fighter jet fly behind us from the ramp opening of our chopper. Then we see a rocket hit one of the wing's from the left side. Lynch had taken a hit and was now losing altitude.

 _"God damn! Son of a bitch!"_ the pilot cried. _"We're hit! We're hit! I've lost my engine and rotor!"_

"Lynch, you took a hit three-o-clock!" yelled Cage. "There's RPG's on the roofs!"

 _"Mayday! Mayday! This is Lynch! We're going in hard! We're going down!"_

Lynch's jet fighter had descended altitude and crash landed in the middle of the slums between the tenement buildings. HQ came on radio chat again to alert everyone of the crash.

 _"We have a Gray Hawk down. I repeat, we have a Gray Hawk down."_

Where have I heard that line before? I've watch a few war film in my time and remember a line like this from Black Hawk Down. Another film by Ridley Scott who helmed Blade Runner. Only the line from that war movie was 'We have a Black Hawk Down.' Not 'We have a Gray Hawk Down'.

 _"Lynch, this HQ. Come in, over."_

Our chopper had come around the corner to visualize Lynch's crash site. We could see her jet plummeted on the street and critically damaged. Cage called it in to HQ.

"HQ, this is Alpha," he said. "We have visual on the crash site. I see small arms fire coming from the cockpit. Request permission to initiate search and rescue."

 _"Copy, Alpha. Be advised, the operation stands. Charlie, Delta, and Echo still need your help at Pioneer Square. Their assistance time will be reduced. Do you understand?"_

"Roger that. We know what we're getting into."

 _"Alright, Alpha. It's your call. Retrieve that pilot if you can. Out."_

"Lynch do you copy? What's your status, over."

 _"I'm here...my co-pilot Weaving is KIA! Hostiles moving fast! I could sure use some help down here!"_

"Hold on, we're coming to you."

"So much for our air support," said Chloe. "Guess we're the support now."

"Let's move out people!" ordered Cage. "Lynch is waiting!"

The chopper grounds itself on the street twenty feet ahead of the crash site for search and rescue. We march out of the helo to rescue the Gray Hawk pilot from distress. Mercenaries were closing in on the site and Lynch needed assistance fast.

 _"Be advised, Alpha. Hostiles advancing parallel southwest to your position near the crash site."_

"We got ninety seconds, Alpha!" yelled Cage. "Get the pilot! No one gets left behind!"

We hold off the advancing mercenaries engaging on the crash site and hurry towards the injured pilot left for dead in the cockpit. I use my time shielding to protect ourselves from enemy fire while approaching the crash site. We could see Lynch lying down like a sitting duck in the cockpit badly wounded with a leg injury and her co-pilot deceased inside. She held a pistol in her hand for her own defense while injured and concealed to her seat.

"Madsen, pull her out of there and get her back to the LZ!" ordered Cage. "Do it!"

"On it!" obeyed David.

David took Lynch's hand, carried her out of the cockpit, and held her in his arms. Chloe and I defend David and the female pilot to ensure we got her to safety.

"Get to the sea knight!" ordered Cage. "We'll hold down those corners! Go!"

 _"Captain Cage, this is HQ. Now would be a good time to get the hell out of there, over."_

"Roger that! We're on our way!"

 _"Alpha, PPB units and the other teams are taking casualties at Pioneer Square. Proceed to phase two ASAP."_

"Go! Go!"

David get Lynch inside the sea knight chopper safely and the rest of us get back on board. Chloe's step-father sets the wounded pilot down on a seat until medical attention arrived and the rest of us stay in our seats when the bird ascends. Mercenaries were still after us, but we held them back good. Then our bird is off the ground and airborne. Taking us to our destination for phase two of the operation. Time to rise from the ashes so fire could meet water.

 _"Cage, we're northbound on Pioneer,"_ said Mason with Bravo. _"The mercs are bringing reinforcements and we've just lost the PPB ops. Echo is KIA. It's just us, Charlie, and Delta who are left standing."_

 _"If we loose any more opposing force to Neo-Chrysalis,"_ said Secretary Brown on chatter. _"Then the fallout from this incident could be catastrophic."_

"Understood," said Cage. "Alpha out."

Our double-bladed heli grounded us front and center of Pioneer Square when we at last reach our destination. Lynch had to stay on the chopper until a medic could assist her. The rest of get off the air vehicle and prep ourselves for another heavy battleground.

"Spread out!" ordered Cage "Open up your fields of fire! Stay on line!"

 _"David, are and the other here yet?!"_ asked Rachel contently. _"Frank and I are getting hammered to wall down here! And we've just lost Echo and the PPB!"_

"We're already grounded, Rachel!" responded David. "The girls and I are approaching for assistance right now!"

 _"Well that's just great!"_ muttered Frank. _"We've been here for at least two minutes and we already lost two units, Captain!"_

"Get your head back in the fight, Bowers!" scolded Cage. "Or you'll end up just like Echo!"

 _"HQ to Alpha, Bravo and the other teams are pinned down by APC tanks front and center. Do you have eyes on?"_

"We have visual," replied Cage. "Enemy forces have two tanks posted by the AA gun are targeting Bravo, Charlie, and Delta in the central courtyard!"

 _"That's them. Find a away to jettison them ASAP before discarding the AA gun central to your location."_

"Understood. Better get ready for this shit ladies! The fight's far from done!"

My team and I find some cover on the southwest side of the big courtyard in Pioneer. Rachel and Bravo was posted on the southeast, Charlie was posted on the northwest, Delta was posted on the northeast. Echo was posted at the courthouse on Pioneer before take were wiped out and KIA. They were a brave unit and they wouldn't go unavenged.

The APC tanks had been circling around the AA gun mounted in the center to protect it from stragglers. The AA gun had been firing missiles in the air shooting down FA38s and the tanks had us pinned down behind cover shooting rockets and turret bullets at our ass to keep us away from the gun. We needed to think strategically and tactically to survive this uneasy skirmish.

 _"Dammit, Cage!"_ mutter Cayce from Bravo. _"Those tanks are throwing everything they have at us to stop us from reaching that gun! We can't hold them off much longer! We're dead if they're not dealt with damn soon!"_

"If anyone's got any wild ideas how to deal with those angry titans, I'm open to tactics!" yelled Cage.

 _"Captain, there are two RPG's by those ammo crates!"_ informed Rachel. _"If we could throw smoke or something at those tanks to blind than reach for those weapons, we could take them down with ease!"_

"I was anticipating strategies from you, Amber," replied Cage. "Someone grab those RPG's from the demolitions crate out in the courtyard and throw some smoke!"

"Who the fuck is gonna blow those things up and throw smoke bombs at the same time?!" muttered Chloe.

"We'll have to work together if we have to destroy those tank and that gun!" I yell. "Someone's gotta pick up those rocket launchers and someone else has to toss the smoke!"

"And who's gonna do what?!" questioned Chloe. "No one can just do both!"

 _"Cage, I'll take on the tank on our side,"_ suggested Rachel. _"Someone else can take the one on the right."_

"With respect, Captain," I say. "I'll try and take the one on the right. If I could blow up one of your choppers, I can blow up that tank."

"I hope you know what you're doing both of you," warned Cage. "Madsen, Mason, lay down some smoke for Caulfield and Amber."

The two soldiers were at our assistance tossed smoke grenades in the direction of the tanks.

"Throwing smoke!" shouted David.

 _"Throwing smoke!"_ shouted Mason.

"That's your cue ladies!" shouted Cage. "Get to the RPG's now!"

I make a break for the RPG as soon as the tank is blinded by the smoke grenade that goes off in it's face so I don't get shot. Rachel does the same. I pick up the heavy ass rocket launcher, bend down on my knee to aim carefully, and use my time vision to see through the smoke and accurately aim down the sights towards the armored APC vehicle. Ready to fire.

 _"Blow it, Max!"_ yelled Chloe. _"Now!"_

I felt the rocket pack a punch as it forced me back a little and fired away towards the tank. Sending it to orbit and destroying it like dynamite blowing rubble out of a mine.

"Fuck! You!" I clamor.

I shut down my time vision and I could see Rachel fire her rocket at her tank. Two down on the ground. Zero left to go.

 _"Burn in hell!"_ exclaimed Rachel.

 _"Hella yeah!"_ expressed Chloe.

 _"Cage to HQ. APC's are neutralized. Moving to decommission AA gun now."_

Rachel and I lay down the rocket launchers and resume our positions with our teams. Once we do so, even more trouble is afoot. Before we could even step one foot towards the AA gun, more stars were hitting the ground and one shooting star had hit the AA gun unleashing another alien marauder brute to fight. The same one we encountered on the freeway to Beaverton and the same kind that almost turned me into a Max sandwich. And the ones that belong to the advanced race called Fallen from Elysium.

"Incoming Fallen!" warned Cage.

 _"If I must tear you apart, Max, I will,"_ the voice of Chronos had spoken.

Then more falling stars combusted to the ground assembling more Fallen creatures and brutes. Now the pressure was really starting to up the ante. The heat on our thermostats measured one hundred degrees out in Pioneer with all the Fallen zombies and marauders invading the courtyard.

"Great! Now these alien Fallen things are joining the animal house!" muttered Chloe.

"Not these guys again!" whined Frank.

 _"This is Lockheed to all available ground units. We have rearmed ourselves and are now standing by for tasking."_

"Lockheed, this is alpha!" shouted Cage. "We've got heavy Fallen resistance all over Pioneer Square! Requesting immediate air support now!"

 _"Copy alpha. Please mark target for assistance, over."_

"Mason, throw a flare!"

Lieutenant Mason ignited a flare from his gear tossed it over to the center so our air support can spot the signal to engage on our targets. Our support was granted.

 _"Targets marked. Firing."_

The AC-130 plane was now bucketing big bullets, missiles, and torpedoes onto the army of Fallen. Our big birdie's ultimate fire power unleashed and dropped hell onto the alien bastards. We all get to safe distances before we get caught in the hell storm of bullets and rockets. Everyone including myself covers theirs ears behind a wall so the hell fire doesn't destroy our eardrums apart.

The Fallen are wiped off the courtyard like grass cut from a lawnmower and burst into dust. Chloe embraces the cacophony of mowing down a pack of alien Fallen. Even she gets a good taste out of over-the-top-ness from action movies just they way I do. Every Fallen marauder and humanoid zombie shattered to dust when the bullets and rockets ceased fire. Leaving no Fallen standing. And then they were none.

"Eat shit and die you alien fucks!" yelled Chloe. "Hella textbook bitches! Hella fucking outrageous!"

"Thanks for the firework show up there Lockheed!" thanked Cage. "We owe you one!"

 _"No worries, Alpha. We'll be rearming for further task. We won't be available for support until then."_

"Roger, Cage to HQ. All Fallen hostiles neutralized and the second AA gun is down. I repeat, the second AA gun is down."

 _"Good work, Alpha. Proceed to Hawthorne bridge for phase three. We're sending in choppers your way. Sea knights are en route. ETA five minutes. Stand by."_

Before our exfil could arrive, a helicopter blade could be heard from above and it wasn't one of ours. It belonged to Neo-Chrys. I stared at the enemy copper to see a familiar face on board from a hundred feet above. It was Derrick Crosby inside the helicopter with his right hand man Alexei Ranikov. The bald man in black shades and leather glances down at me maliciously. I glance back at my nemesis menacingly.

Ranikov mounted a mini-gun on the helo and started spraying bullets at us with it. I take evasive action and jump out the way of the turret fire. The rest of my team including Chloe, David, and the Captain stayed behind cover. Rachel's team does the same. However, Crosby shot balls of energy from his time blasting power that almost took me out and forced the rest of my team out the way. Sending the off their off their feet and rolling on the ground. Ranikov's mini-gun had taken out Charlie and Delta team with the help of Crosby time blast.

The bullets from the turret took out Charlie via flammable canisters that exploded from behind them and incinerated the whole team. Delta was mowed down by a stack of propane tanks that were set off into a fiery explosion killing all of Delta Team. Crosby's time blast had forced Bravo team, that included Rachel, Frank, Mason, and Cayce off their feet and sent flying in the air like springs. I attempt to get on my feet again and see Crosby helicopter land in the center of the courtyard by the destroyed AA turret.

I quickly run for cover behind a large pole in the middle of the square with my pistol in hand. Chloe and David slowly get off their immobile ass and stay behind the walls when they do. I was about to make another confrontation with Crosby and the quantum extremist leader Ranikov. Crosby gets off the helicopter when it's grounded. Ranikov gets off as well but stays behind him as his bystander. I could see Crosby walking over to my cover and closing in on me. I stupidly shoot my pistol at him, but it was hopeless to defend myself from him since he had been immune to oncoming bullets.

The man as always zigs when the bullets zag via his time dash to dodge my line of fire. I cease and keep my and head down. My bullets were useless against the power-hungry superhuman. The man stops in his tracks and I hear him out for as long as I could. So does Chloe and David who were still content enough to listen to the bloodthirsty mad man. So does Rachel who crawl on the ground from being immobilized, but with Frank and the other still unconscious from the shock of Crosby's time blast. Whatever this traitorous and egotistical sociopath had to say, it was only going to make me even more sick than Jefferson's words ever did.

"I applaud you, Max," Crosby began. "This has been an impressive diversion. Ranikov was utterly convinced Cage and his men were the real threat. Of course, it was all for nothing. I can't let you disrupt what I've accomplished here. You can't possibly understand what's really at steak."

"Why are doing this?" I ask him. "The only thing I see at steak here is bringing Arcadia Bay to the world."

"You've seen the visions of this achievement, haven't you? Just like the Arcadia storm. You of all people should understand what the end of time is capable of. It cannot be stopped. Do not mire pointless revolt. Do not dwindle everything for the sake of petty tragedies. The Saint Loomis order tried to fight and they were utterly destroyed. Thousands dead. But what if they bowed before Chronos? Would the order still exist? Is harmony not preferable to tragedy?"

"Do you really believe Chronos is allowing us to live and a life where death is non-existent and we would all be able to see our dead loved ones again?"

"Now you'll see why I admired your affection between yourself and Chloe. We as human beings are driven by emotion instead of logic. Chloe's experience of losing a parent or finding Rachel's replicated body would make a divine example of that content. We will live happily together when we know happiness doesn't last forver. But if we work for Chronos, if we make ourselves useful, think how many lives could be spared. Think of the glory of the afterlife the people on Earth would embrace if they were to live a life with their deceased loved ones return to each other. Once I understood this, I joined Chronos. Though I was aware of the dangers, I started Project Elysium and had hoped it would maintain the acceptance of this afterlife."

"Oh, I see what your saying," said Chloe. "You think by ending the world to see dead people like my Dad would make me a happy person again. Your nothing but a sick fuck who pretended to care for us until you didn't! Just like everyone else in my life!"

"As usual, Chloe, a naive, undisciplined, and delinquent young woman who sits down and pout locked in her bedroom mourning her loved one's demise. Living a sorrowful life of rejection and lamenting abandonment. When you could see him again, Chloe. The most important man in your life in a world of harmony without tragedy. You'll be able to see William again in a future with no regrets."

"I rather see you burn in hell than my Dad bathe in heaven! Seeing my Dad again isn't for you to decide even if I were. I won't be manipulated by a sociopath in cosplay. I won't let you kill Max or anyone else I still have left to care about in this world!"

"You're like every other pour soul you ever used!" I mutter. "Jefferson, Nathan, Sean, everyone. A tool Chronos can use then cast aside."

"I've studied the effects of this project myself. The more Chronos exerts, the less capable the subjects become. That is my saving grace. Chronos needs me to fulfill his deference. My form is still my own, but the transference from soul to spirit can be subtle. I will not let it happen to me."

"Chronos is manipulating you and you don't even know it! You're already under his power!"

"No! Chronos needs me! If I complete my deep ambition, I've been promised a reprieve from the inevitable. This is my only hope."

"Together we can stop Chronos. We don't have to submit to the Fallen. We can beat them!"

"I no longer believe that, Max. The end of time cannot be denied. The Fallen are too powerful. The only hope of survival is to join with them. Chronos is our messiah. He thinks like an apostle. If I can prove my value, I become a desciple worth maintaining. There is no other logical conclusion!"

"You were like a father to me, Crosby! You were sworn to defend my affairs with Chloe! Then just like Jefferson, you broke that vow to save yourself!"

"I'm not doing this for myself! Don't you see?! Chronos will succeed. It is inevitable. My way is the only way any of us will survive! I'm forging an alliance between us and the Fallen. Between life and death in of itself. And in doing so, I will save more lives than ever existed. But you will undo my work. You would doom our civilization to complete annihilation. Just the way you doomed Arcadia Bay for a single life that would only complete yours. And for that, you must die. But alas, your death will be the end of your pain and suffering."

 **Note: So how's that for a deeper villain arc than Jefferson, heh? Some of my readers have given me feedback on how should press the brakes on the action and keep the character dev coming. I figured this confrontation with Crosby could give him a background of his character arc and villainy and why he's the character he is now. Expect more action to come around the next few chapters before I slow it down again.**

 **Until next time, stay golden!**


	13. To Live And Die In Portland

Chapter 13 To Live And Die In Portland

Max

April 23, 2014

8:45 PM

Portland, Oregon

Pioneer Square

Before the indoctrinated mad man could strike us, more Fallen had been summoned around the square ready to attack us. Crosby and Ranikov didn't even bother fighting us nor the Fallen. The both of them retreated. Crosby boarded his chopper again and Ranikov made a break for on of the military jeeps and hijacked it to escape the scene.

Crosby's helicopter ascended from ground and Ranikov hit the gas on his jeep to drive away. David managed to fully get his ass off the ground, run towards the direction Ranikov was speeding and fire his auto rifle at the speeding jeep that drove off the square. Crosby was now fully airborne on his chopper and Ranikov had vanished from his hijacked vehicle. Everyone on Alpha and Bravo was fully conscious and back on their feet again, but the two villainous beings had gotten away and Fallen minions were still roaming the square.

"They're making a break for the bridge," shouted David. "Someone needs to go after them."

"Captain, we can use those vehicles to pursue them," said Cayce. "What do you say?

"Alright, here's the plan," said Cage. "We can put the girls in charge of pursuing Crosby and Ranikov while the rest of us can hold off the Fallen. Caulfield, who do you want to take with you and who do you want to pursue?"

 **X/SQUARE/LM - PURSUE CROSBY**

 **B/CIRCLE/RM - PURSUE RANIKOV**

"Chloe, you and I can go after Ranikov," I said. "Rachel, you and Frank take care of that Crosby bastard."

"My pleasure," said Rachel.

"Semper fi, girly," said Frank. "Or is it hell or high water?"

There was a motor bike Rachel and Frank could drive to catch up to Crosby. Whilst another jeep with an MG mounted on the back Chloe and I could use to catch up to Ranikov. Chloe had something to say to Rachel before we took the jeep.

"Hey, Rachel," she began. "What you said about lying to me, it doesn't matter anymore."

"Chloe?"

"We stop Crosby. That's all that matters. Catch up to them?"

"Won't stop till we do. Hell or high water."

I get in the jeep with Chloe. She takes the wheel and I take the gun. Rachel and Frank get on the bike. Frank drives and Rachel shoots with her TMP gun. We all go our separate way to pursue our targets. Ranikov was heading for the Hawthorne Bridge where phase three was taking and Crosby was likely to be heading back to the Chrysalis tower where the portal was being emitted. We all take separate streets to begin the pursuit while David, Cage, and the others hold off the Fallen. Frank hits the gas on the bike to go after Crosby and Chloe steps on it to chase after the Ruskie lieutenant. And the pursuit began.

Chloe

April 23, 2014

8:50 PM

Portland, Oregon

SW Broadway

I drive the jeep on Broadway where Ranikov was driving to the Hawthorne Bridge. Max was on the machine gun mounted on the jeep to shoot anything in our path. Rachel and Frank had to take the motorbike on Alder Street to chase after Crosby's helicopter. I speed up our vehicle on the road to keep it right on the commie bastard's tail. Eventually I get her up to speed enough to gain a good distance between our jeep and his. I contact HQ to inform our pursuit.

"This is Chloe Price. Alexei Ranikov is moving southwest on Broadway towards the Hawthorne Bridge. Advising all personnel to be on the alert."

The pursuit of Ranikov wasn't going to be easy. More jeeps with MG turrets had been on our tail to protect their leader. Not if we could take care of them first.

"Max, you got to use the MG to keep the heat off us! Otherwise we're road kill!"

"No shit! We can handle this! I've had enough of these stupid games!"

Max commandeers the MG and shoots down every last Neo-Chrys jeep protecting Ranikov from us. Some of the enemy MG vehicles try ramming us off the road. I try and ram them back until Max could shoot them down with the MG. We couldn't catch up to Ranikov alone. We were going to need contingencies from Ranikov arriving at the bridge. Max contacted HQ to request assistance.

"Max to HQ. Block off all the exits!"

 _"Sorry, no can do. All of our units are currently engaged. We don't have any to spare."_

"Dammit!" I gripe. "Do you think this was part of his plans?"

"Don't know, don't matter," said Max. "Guess we're taking him down on our own then."

We pick up speed and get closer and closer to Ranikov's vehicle. The man turn his car to the left and into a tunnel. That's where I turn our jeep as well.

"Now we've got ya!" said Max.

"Give up, Ranikov!" I said. "We got you. You're not getting rid of us that easily! I'm the best driver in Arcadia Bay!"

We drive into the tunnel with Ranikov, shoot down more jeeps, then drive straight out and back into open sky. As I make like Vin Diesel in the Fast and Furious, there were not only more mercenary jeeps to be dealt with, but also civilian vehicles to avoid as well. Whatever the hell random people driving around in the middle of a warzone were doing, they weren't going to last long here. The Mayor of this city had said everyone in downtown had been evacuated. Guess not all of them.

 _"Price, Caulfield, come in! This is Lieutenant Mason! We hear you're zeroing in on Alexei Ranikov! We're trying to hold out on our end, but we're not going to last long! Catch up to that bastard before this gets any worse!"_

"Don't worry, Lieutenant!" Max assured. "We will! Just hang in there before extraction arrives!"

 _"Roger that! Good luck! Hopefully we can keep fighting against this shit storm! Mason out!"_

Ranikov's vehicle enters an overpass and into another freeway off of Broadway. I drive the jeep to where he was driving full speed ahead. Max aim's for Ranikov's jeep and starts shooting at him, but her accuracy and range of her fire only hits his jeep minimally. As the pursuit continues, Ranikov tosses a hand grenade out of his vehicle and it lands on the road next to a gasoline tanker connected to a big rig as he drove passed. The grenade goes off and the tanker explodes like dynamite. Setting off a massive fire blocking the road.

I immediately turn the jeep to the left off the freeway and into a rail yard to avoid the fire. That's when I realized I'm now driving on train tracks next to the road Ranikov is driving on. We could see him speeding on the parallel road next. Then we hear something fast moving ahead as bright lights started approaching us. There was an oncoming train heading in our direction that was about to ram us off the tracks.

"Chloe! There's a train coming!"

I instantly turn to the other side of the tracks to avoid the train. Still in pursuit of Ranikov. Once the train had passed, there was an opening on the tracks that would take back onto the freeway. I turn to the right, drive off the tracks, and back onto the freeway with a thud. Max returns fire once I pick up speed to Ranikov's jeep.

"You're not gonna loose us, Ranikov!" shouted Max.

I punched the gas as hard as I could to keep up with our target. Then more jeep arrived with mercs firing RPG rockets at us this time.

"Chloe, avoid the rockets!" warned Max.

"I'm trying!" I say.

I turn the jeep left and right to dodge and the rocket while Max shoots off the enemy jeeps. Another message from HQ came on continuing our pursuit.

 _"HQ to Alpha. We've spotted an oncoming freighter in the Willamette River heading for the Hawthorne Bridge. Chatter we've picked up indicates Neo-Chrys might be in control of the freighter to drive it over there on purpose and destroy the bridge to keep it from anyone trying to pass over."_

"They're going to destroy their own defense area?!" I ask. "Ram through the Hawthorne bridge with a big ass freighter?!"

"Keep driving, Chloe!" said Max. "We've almost got this guy! He's heading for the bridge now! We can't let him reach it!"

"Hold on tight! This guys got nowhere to run!"

Max had cleared away every enemy jeep on the road protecting Ranikov. Then we had finally seen the Hawthorne Bridge from the jeep we were driving in. We were almost there.

"There it is!" Max shouts. "We're almost there! Step on it, Chloe!"

I drive faster and faster towards our target. The faster I drove, the faster we could gain on Ranikov before reaching the Hawthorne Bridge. Then the bridge was just dead ahead of us. Now we had Ranikov cornered at the front of the bridge. He had nowhere else to run.

"There he is, Max! We've got him now!"

"Ha, that right you bastard...oh shit!"

An RPG from the front of the bridge was aiming for us and the merc using it fired the rocket away. I instantly turned the jeep away from the rocket, but the explosion from the rocket made me lose control and drive straight off the bridge. Causing the jeep to dive under and collapse into the lower level. Death by RPG rocket and a jeep driven off a narrow bridge was how we were going out.

Rachel

April 23, 2014

8:55 PM

Portland, Oregon

Alder Street

My boyfriend takes the wheel of the bike we use, I sit behind him to shoot anything that moves, and take Alder Street to pursue Crosby on his chopper. Frank is surprising good at driving a motorbike just as well as I do. Me and him had always admired motorcycles when were dating back in Arcadia Bay and I let him drive his girl to chase the bad guy. We could see Crosby's chopper from a distance flying forward when we gain on it.

"HQ this is Rachel Amber. Bowers and I are in pursuit of Crosby heading southwest on Alder Street in a chopper."

 _"Roger that. Chloe Price just reported in and said her and Caulfield are pursuing Ranikov down on Broadway. Good luck out there, Agent Amber. We're counting on you?"_

"Agent Amber?" questioned Frank.

"That's how they referred to me back when I was an agent for them," I answer.

Then a spotlight from above illuminated where we were driving down and it was an assault chopper sent to shoot us on sight. Crosby must've called in for some backup to protect his chopper knowing he would be followed. I knew this chase wouldn't remotely be cakewalk to start with.

"Oh, great," Frank reacted.

The assault helo starting bucketing turret fire on his and we needed more speed to reduce our chances of being shot down.

"Hang on!" warned Frank, hitting the accelerator.

"It's trying to mow us down!" I shout.

"Yeah, thanks! I have ears! God only knows how we're gonna get out of this!"

As Frank accelerated the bike on the road, I try laying down suppressing fire with my Uzi gun. But my bullets are less than effective on the big bird. Despite our certain deaths from above, we still had Crosby's helicopter to follow. Frank tries losing the attack copter by driving into a tunnel.

Once we cross the tunnel, we approach Crosby's helicopter to see it flying over a cliff side the appears to be a dead end. However, the dead end had ramp on the cliff. Something we could use to jump over the narrow edge. We've only been on this bike for five minutes and already things get extreme.

"Hang onto me!" warned Frank.

Then Frank performs the most dangerous stunt on this ride yet. We jump over the narrow cliff side and we both glide over a humungous view of Portland. None of us may have feared heights, but we were literally gliding five hundred feet in the air. We could see Crosby's helicopter from below us. Eventually, we start descending to the ground and into a narrow gap between the buildings and back on the street. The impact on our landing was a bit rough. So rough I almost bounced off the bike after just gliding over a narrow gap five hundred feet in the air. At least I hung onto to Frank's caress as tight as I could when he told me too. I'm so lucky I did.

"Holy fuck, Frank!" I mutter. "We did not just do that and survive that! You could've killed us both!"

"This city's going to hell in a hand basket! What do you expect?! Christmas town?!"

Even after just barely surviving a fall five hundred feet in the air, there was yet another kamikaze stunt to pull off. Frank had to drive the bike up another ramp where we would need to get past some mercs on woodwork. One of the mercs holding an RPG in hand and aiming to blow us up as we jumped over the chasm. Lucky for us, there were fuel barrels on the woodwork to use against the mercs.

"Hey! Shoot that thing!" Frank yelled. "Would you?!"

I aim down at barrel of fuel with the barrel of my gun in bullet time and shoot it. Sending away a fiery explosion that kills all the mercenaries as we swift through the explosion in the nick of time before we're caught in it as well. Then our wheels on back on the road again. Frank quickly drifts the bike into an alley full speed ahead. It appeared we had lost sight of Crosby and had to find a way to return visual immediately.

"Uh, this is really starting to hurt!" I grip. "And we've lost sight of Crosby!"

"Next time we'll drive a limo!" snapped Frank.

We exit the alleyway and drift back on normal road. That's when mercenaries on motorbikes manifest themselves onto the street we speed on and start shooting at us. The most obvious thing to do was to shoot back at them with my Uzi to save our skins while also avoiding obstacle course of deranged cars parked our destroyed in every random spot in the road. I also use my time stopping power on the mercenary bikers to freeze them in their track and save me the ammunition for my gun. The real fork in the road was when Frank drives the bike on some more woodwork and the attack chopper reappears to shoot us down. It's bullets start spraying in a parallel arc ahead of us and we kept speeding like 007 in Skyfall style.

Suddenly, an explosion set off behind had forced me off the bike and left me hanging onto the landing gear of the assault chopper. Frank had driven off the woodwork and back on the road without me. I hung on for dear life as tight as I could.

"Frank!" I yelp.

Frank slowed the bike down, drift it around, and came to a stop before he could take off without me.

"Son of a...god dammit!" he clamored.

"I can't hold on!"

"Yes you can! I'm coming!"

Frank pumped the bikes engine and raced his way to the chopper before I could slip and fall down to my doom. Evidently, Frank makes is way back to the hover copter as I lose my grip and start falling. Until my boyfriend reaches me and I land back on the bike. Preventing me from collapsing to my death.

"You okay?" asked Frank.

"Yeah, nice catch," I assure.

We continue racing across the streets of Portland in search of Crosby's helicopter. Whatever Crosby went, we need to catch sight of him immediately before we lost him for good. The assault chopper was still after us and now it had just shot down a big rig tanker with a rocket. Causing the tanker to lose control and slide across the road. Frank performs a power slide with the bike to avoid the incoming tanking and slide under it to dodge the big obstacle.

While the chopper is still after us, we attempt to shake it through more woodwork on buildings. Frank drives the bike up another ramp and into a long tunnel inside across a half-built building. As we sped through the tunnel, the helicopter chasing after us flew up front with it's spotlight shining across and almost blinding the both us.

"The helicopter's back!" I shout.

"Bastard was waiting for us!" shouted Frank. "Hang on!"

The chopper had open fired. Frank power slid again across the tunnel and I open my time shield to protect from getting hammered down from the helicopter's bullets. We made it up to the light at the end of the tunnel to land the bike onto another freeway in the city. When speeding across the freeway retreating from the attacking helicopter like Paul Walker in Fast and Furious, Frank had to avoid another obstacle course of cars parked or derelict on the road. Not to mention more goons on bikes to come and shoot at us.

"They're still on us!" I holler.

"No shit!" mutter Frank. "Get them off of us before they clip us down!"

I shoot a few merc bikers down with my automatic gun in hand and even performed a massive time blast on bunch of bikers to get a good chunk of them off our tail. But the fun wasn't over yet. The attack chopper flew next to a moving truck connected to a trailer carrying automobiles and shot it down causing the tailgate of the trailer to flap open and release the vehicles carried on the trailer into the street. Setting up a chain reaction of rolling down on the road like dodge balls.

"As if we didn't have enough problems!" Frank griped.

"Watch out!" I warn.

"Here we go! Hold on!"

Frank avoids the incoming cars tumbling on the freeway left and right. After avoid as many totaling vehicles as we can, Frank picks up speed to drive on the ramp of the trailer ahead of us. Once we do, we glide over the propeller of the attack chopper and over the big fence of the freeway. Not as much of a suicidal stunt from the last big ramp we had to jump off of, but not as subtle either.

After the next crazy stunt Frank had to perform with the bike, we ground ourselves into an underpass below the freeway and end up flying off the bike. Sending ourselves stumbling on the ground and the bike sliding into a flammable barrel and destroying it. Our ride was DOA and we completely lost Crosby. Frank gets up on his feet to help me get up on my feet after our crash into the underpass.

"You alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine," I say taking his hand.

"Come on, babe. We gotta get out of here."

Once we were on our feet, that's when we realized we weren't alone. We could hear grotesque voices out in the alley where we crashed. The voice of monsters roaming the area. It was none other than Fallen minions. A horde of Fallen descendants that now have ambushed us. The demons all walk in a zombie-like heard. Ready to attack. We grab our guns and at this moment we now really had something to live and die in Portland.

"Shit," I said.

 **Note: So I like everyone to know that I've been a little obsessed with getting this finale out the way and have been loosing sleep lately in doing so. May my readers be notified that I will work as hard as I can and that this writing will require not only time but patience. Especially for such an action thrilled episode.**

 **If you want to know, the chase sequences from both POV's are referenced from chase sequences in the Chris and Piers campaign as well as the Jake and Sherry campaign in RE6. Figured they'd be nice references for this chapter. That is all.**

 **Until next time, stay golden!**


	14. Little Pieces of Time

Chapter 14 Little Pieces of Time

Max

April 23, 2014

9:29 PM

Portland, Oregon

Hawthorne Bridge

I rest down on the ground unconscious from the shock of the crash. Our vehicle had gone down tilted left side down when we crashed into the pier and onto a stack of wooden crates. I gradually wake up from the shock with my head scared, my ribs aching, and my leg numb. Once I'm up, I feel my leg stinging. I take a look at my leg to see that it has a big cut with blood spewing out. I'm hurt really bad. I wasn't going to get with just one leg. Then I remembered my healing power from before. I could use it to dissolve my wound.

I hover my hand over my bloody cut to absolve my chronon energy in order to maintain the pressure on my wound. My power stops the bleeding, dissolves the cut, and my leg is functional again. That's when I turn to my right to see Chloe tossed out of the driver seat of the tilted car knocked out on the ground as well.

"Chloe!" I bellow.

I race over to my partner in crime seeing her lying right side down. I turn her body over in front of me to see her face scared and her arm bleeding. She had broken her arm during the impact and when she fell out. I try waking her by touching her face.

"Come on, Chloe! Wake up! Get up!"

I get a moan out of her and she starts peeling her eyelids open.

"Mm, Max? What happened? Ow, my arm!"

"Take it easy, Chloe. Give me your arm."

I lift her up and take her arm. Then I influence the chronon particles into her wound to heal it. I impede the bleeding and her arm is fixed. Chloe wiggles her arm around for a sec to make she's able to use it.

"How bout we never reckless drive in front of a defense post so an RPG could blow us up again," I said.

"Works for me," she said. "Where are we? How did we get here?"

"We're on the pier of this bridge. Must've driven off the bridge and crashed here when we lost control."

 _"Caulfield, Price, this is HQ! Come in! Speak to us!"_

"This is Caulfield. We read you."

 _"Thank god! What the hell happened to you two?! We lost contact with you for over half an hour!"_

"We had a setback. We ran into the defense area at the bridge and ended up crashing into the pier bellow the bridge and survived. Barely."

 _"Copy that. Do you have Ranikov."_

"Negative. He gave us the slip when we were almost blown up by an RPG. That's how we crashed down here."

 _"Copy. Proceed through the Hawthorne bridge while you still can. Be advised, there will be Neo-Chrys posted above you. We're also still getting reports from our striker units of time stuttering activity near the bridge. There's also word that the freighter in the Willamette river in coming in close. You'd better pick up the pace pronto."_

"Roger. What about phase three? Does our operation still stand?"

 _"Affirmative, but we've already dispatched a team to finish the task. Just get past the bridge ASAP before that freighter does. HQ out."_

The both of us are on our feet again and we proceed across the pier. There had to be a way up to the bridge and we needed to find a way quickly.

"Hard to believe that over a month ago this city was nothing more but the kingdom of heaven when we took a trip here," said Chloe. "Now it's hell on Earth as we know it."

"It can be rebuilt, Chloe," I said. "Even Jefferson had better sanity than this, you know. This is Crosby at his worst."

"You're saying that you like Jefferson more now?"

"That's not what I said. I said that Crosby's insanity doesn't compare to Jefferson's The apple doesn't fall far from the tree between a perverted pedophile and an egotistical Morpheus wannabe. Crosby won't win this. We won't let him. I know we won't."

We find a ladder to climb up to the bridge and it takes us up to the lower catwalk. We also walk up a small staircase that takes us to the bride itself and when we do, that's when it starts. I feel the air gone dry. The atmosphere amidst. I knew that feeling. Then that feeling shut down. Suddenly, we hear gunshots from the bridge and voices speaking in Russian.

"Vrazheskiy avtomobil'! Vkhodyashchiye! (Enemy vehicle! Incoming!)"

Shots are fired from above, then an explosion that causes a Chrysalis truck to bounce of the bridge and then all of a sudden freeze frames on the edge toward where we walk up. Of course, this feeling was exactly what I predicted. We had entered another time stutter. Something that had been part of this fracture in time that had been tearing the world apart by storm. Chloe takes a good look around in confusion. She isn't affected by the time stuttering because of the chronon utility belt she had to wear like everyone else decontaminated from chronon exposure.

"What the fuck is happening, Max?!" muttered Chloe. "What is this?! Is - is this -"

"It's a time stutter, Chloe," I say. "Remember the one in Seattle? It's the same thing here."

"Jesus. Wait, I thought time stutters don't work on you. Why isn't it working on me?"

"It's because of that belt your wearing. So you don't get caught in them. Maybe this is a good thing. It could be music to our ears. It could be our best friend to get past the mercs. Let's go."

We're on the bridge whilst the stutter is active. During the stutter, Chloe and I walk through a heard of military and civilian vehicles in disoriented traffic and Neo-Chrys mercenaries fending off Chrys soldiers. We pass through a fence that Neo-Chrys had set up for their base. There was a security gate in front us past the enemy barricade at the center of the bridge where bridge had been lifted halfway.

There were ladders we could use climb on top of the bridge in order to get across the opening. It was a pretty high climb from where we stood, but needed to get across this bridge one way or another. At least the stutter could by us time before the freighter could collide through the bridge.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding," said Chloe. "Time is frozen and now we have to climb all the way up to the top just to get across."

"Unless your scared of heights, Chloe," I say. "I suggest we stop bickering and start climbing. We don't want to be here any longer when that freighter is and the stutter isn't. Let's move."

The two of us find a ladder to reach higher ground. There's even a longer ladder we have to climb to reach the highest peak of Hawthorne Bridge. Chloe's the first to climb up the long ladder up and I'm one that goes after her. Since she's the one climbing up front, I can see her ass shaking left and right. I may not be as perverted as Warren, but I secretly always thought Chloe had cute ass cheeks. No offense to our sexuality, but I guess I'm really that gay if not.

"This is a pretty tall bridge as it is long bridge, Max," my girlfriend said. "I'd have a better time wasting time getting an amazing view of the city from the bridge than getting stuck in time crossing the bridge."

"There's nothing amazing about the view when there's fire and smoke flooding the city," I said. "Not to mention a portal in sky. How do you feel."

"Not any better, Max. Not any better."

We reach the top of the bridge and onto the catwalk above. When we start crossing the catwalk above the bridge, we could definitely see the havoc reeked by the terrorist. Buildings on fire, shooting stars descending from the sky, and the portal stream into the clouds. All stitched in time.

Then suddenly, I could feel the air again. The silence from the time stutter had stopped and the atmosphere was tangible again. But it wasn't over yet. When reality started resuming back to normal, we could hear the horn of the freighter and the bells of the opening bridge. The big tanker boat was closing in on the bridge and was only seconds away from impact. When the giant freighter hit the bridge with one of it's sailing polls, things were about to get devastating.

The beam at the front of the boat snapped in half on collision with bridge. Then a bigger beam on the boat collided into the bridge belligerently tears the bridge in half. Causing cars on the bridge to total around and the infrastructure to shatter like Lego bricks. Time stutters again for a few seconds. Everything totaled in the mass collision is in stasis. Reality is unparsed again and the freighter completely rips through the whole bridge. Sending cars down the bottom of the Willamette River, parts of the freighter torn from the collision, and the rest of the bridge as whole. Time is parsed again rendering the velocity of the massive collision in stasis.

This immense devastation caused Chloe and I to slip off the catwalk and leave us hanging by a thread. I was hanging down on my feet with what was left of the catwalk and Chloe hung on with fingers on the same platform I was hanging onto.

"Oh, no," I said. "This is so bad."

"Max, I can't hang on forever!" Chloe panted. "I need help!"

"Hang on, Chloe! I'm coming!"

I swing my body to the bars of the platform so my hands could reach them. Then I climb on the bars with my bear hands and legs like a sloth. Then I release my legs from the bars to swing across the chasm with my hands. I keep the momentum on my swing and jump over the chasm to land on what's left of the catwalk floating around in the stutter. Chloe tempts to jump off the right side down platform she's hung onto and make over the chasm landing safely on my platform. Now all we needed to do was find a way off this deteriorating stitch in time with a few struggles to survive through.

"Well fuck me, Max. How do you suppose we got out of this one, huh? How the fuck do we?"

"Stay close to me, Chloe. This could get real tedious. I won't lose you in these little pieces of time."

When carefully treading over our tenuous footing through the frozen crash, we had to jump to another platform. Upon attempt, the stutter releases itself from stasis. and the collision is back in motion. I manage to make it to the next platform but Chloe doesn't. I hang onto my platform as tight as I could until I fall down. Chloe loses her balance on her platform and fall straight off.

The both of us plummet to the asphalt of the bridge and land on our behinds. Along with the debris degenerating from the bridge. Exactly how many times have we fallen on our ass already? We've survived falls worse than Kate's where she comes from. We didn't need any more broken bones. That's for sure. At least we didn't get any this time despite the fatalities. The stutter manifested itself again and we hear the voice of Chronos again.

 _"Max, you cannot resist. Except your inevitability. Your struggle is petty."_

"That explains the stutters," I said, getting off my ass. "Chronos is controlling it and he's trying to throw everything he has at us to stop us."

"Well that's hella fantastic," said Chloe, getting her ass off the asphalt. "We really need to get the fuck out of here."

Crossing this deteriorating stutter was the same as solving a jigsaw puzzle with a thousand pieces. Quantum science was the same as rocket science. Even Isaac Newton would be baffled with the circumstances of quantum breaking and the quantum theory alone. Chloe and I jump over platforms that once belonged on the bridge and were now levitating out of place within the frozen gravity. We had to take a route where signs and catwalks could be used to get across gaps in the stutter. Our best bet getting off the stuttered collision was by getting on the freighter that had crashed into the bridge from the start.

When getting across the obstacles through the stutter, there were cars reversing back and forth and colliding into other matter like a video game glitch. Fuck the laws of physics in this world. I as Super Max defy all laws of physics and use time stop to slow down the time glitches so us as partners in crime and time could survive this colossal stutter. This was what the end of time would be if it hadn't been stopped. Whether it can be stopped to begin with, there to be way to foil the fracture in time. One way or another.

We continued our way downwards to the cargo ship that had crashed through the bridge. Which was our best bet and only hope of surviving this stutter. The route down wasn't exactly user friendly. The fracture was getting much worse. Timelines getting scrambled. Caught in violent loops off-sync and crashing into each other. The end of time in a nutshell. Everything broken, in chaos, frozen, strip bare, and no one would know. Despite the fracture escalating, it wasn't going to drop the wonder twins by a long shot.

We at last make it to the broken bottom of the bridge with hovering asphalt, vehicles, and structure. The cargo ship was just below us now. All we had to do now was tread lightly and cautiously downward and we would survive this stuttering clash. There was a tall and thick metal pipe sticking out of the bridge that we could use to walk and balance ourselves on to reach the freighter boat. It was our only ticket down there.

"I don't like the looks of this, Max. We're really in a rock in a hard place here."

"This is the only way, Chloe. Let's get down there and get the hell off this bridge."

The bridge had been on it's last legs since the cargo ship crashed through. Chloe and I walk on the pipe and balance ourselves with our arms in the air. There was a half torn container up front where we could slide down to the boat. I carefully leap of the pipe and slide down the container. Chloe does the same. Then when we were both on the boat, reality suddenly synced itself again and debris began to topple above us.

 _"You cannot win this, Max. Submit to your perdition. You only belay the inevitable."_

The debris from the crash course bombards on us drastically. We make a run for front edge of the cargo freighter before we get zeroed from all the collapsing containers, cars, and every other obstruction that it's rock bottom.

"Jump for it, Chloe!" I bark.

The two of us make out like Jason Bourne and jump off the boat away from the stumbling obstacles and dive straight into the Willamette River. The both of us holler out loud in mid-air before hitting the water. It was a good thing we both knew how to swim well. We were now two otters in the water swimming for their lives. For now.

 **Note: This was chapter I always wanted to write since this finale began. All taken from a scene in the game Quantum Break where Jack Joyce struggles surviving a deteriorating time stutter when a cargo ship crashes through a bridge. My favorite scene in the game. Thought it would be amazing to have the same sequence in this episode. And what better title than to call it 'Little Pieces of Time'.**

 **Wanted to write at least scene of the couple fighting some Neo-Chrys boogies in striker uniforms than Chrys soldiers in striker outfits coming in to help them, but I didn't want this chapter to rely on a firefight skirmish to accommodate with the action like I have been doing since chapter one. I haven't really touched a time stutter to much since episode three and felt this was the best opportunity as any.**

 **Until next time, stay golden and tuned!**


	15. A Rock And A Hard Place

Chapter 15 A Rock And A Hard Place

Rachel

April 23, 2014

9:50 PM

Portland, Oregon

Columbia Street

My partner and I raced to the rooftops while being chased down by swarms of Fallen. I'm equipped with my Uzi gun and Frank had swiped himself a Type 95 from a dead mercenary when looting his corpse. We had entered a tenement building on Columbia and took the stairwell up to the roof. We also had to fend off Chronos's minions on the way up as well.

HQ had informed us that David and Captain Cage were on their way to extract us via chopper. But we had to reach the rooftops first. The both of us make it to the roof. Frank shoots a couple of rampaging minions before shutting the roof door closed and barricading it with the lock and a heavy metal crate to keep the demons from breaking out.

"The door's not gonna hold much longer, Rachel!" Frank warned. "Where's that chopper when we need it?!"

"HQ, this is Rachel Amber!" I say out loud. "Is our ride still on it's way?!"

 _"Affirmative. Madsen and Cage are nearing Colombia but they'll need a flare signal to find you. That'll be your ticket out of there. HQ out."_

I pull out my flare gun, aim it towards the sky, and fire away to shoot a pink spark in the air. Signaling our extraction point for David and Cage.

 _"Cage to Amber. We see a sparkling flare in the sky. Is that you and Bowers?"_

"Right you are, Cage," I reply. "I'd get your asses down here. We've got the roof barricaded from the Fallen but it won't hold for long!"

 _"Just hang on tight, Rachel,"_ said David. _"We're coming to you."_

"What the hell are those things anyway?" asked Frank. "They look like zombies that rose out of the pits of hell."

"Chrysalis calls them Fallen if you haven't been paying attention," I inform. "They're demons controlled by Chronos. The god of time summoning all those creatures. The end of time in a nutshell. The end of the world as it's happening right now."

"I'm not one to believe in mythology, Rach. At least in church they say that demons are cursed from the seven deadly sins. Not the god of time."

"That's Christian mythology, Frank. This is Greek mythology we're talking. Elysium, Chronos, the Fallen, the dots all connect with those three links of mythos. That's the short answer anyway."

We could hear banging on the barricade door. Fallen minions vigorously trying to break through. Then we could hear more demons outside where we stand. Fallen had been climbing up to the roof and we now had more of them to deal with.

"Just when I thought I've enough gun juice on these guys already," said Frank.

"Let's just hold these guys off before our chopper arrives," I say.

We get our guns ready for another horde fight. When the demons come running towards us, we fire up our guns and start shooting at more waves of Fallen to hold them back. Holding off as many as we can before our choppers hover above us with it's spotlight lighting down on us. Our helicopter flies in front of us to get a view of us fighting off the Fallen.

 _"Sorry to keep you waiting, Amber,"_ said the pilot flying the chopper. _"You too, Bowers."_

The Chrysalis patriot, the pilot, and Chloe's step-father land the helicopter somewhere it was viable to land on the roof. We make a break for the chopper and retreat from the horde of Fallen. Frank gets ahead of me when we sprint to the LZ. Cage, David, and the pilot himself get off the helicopter to cover us from the pursuing horde with their auto rifles. The pilot turns out to be Jerry. Our driver who took us to my lodge after our escape from the mill. Frank reaches the LZ before me. Before my feet could touch the LZ, a Fallen minion leaps onto me and pins me to the ground.

"Rachel!" Frank yapped.

Before my boyfriend could help his girl out, Jerry it the first one to lift the finger and steps out of the landing zone to assist. He intervenes my demonic assailant by pumping a few rounds into it.

"Get on the chopper!" he yells. "Now!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" I chirp.

I get off the concrete on the roof and sprint toward the chopper where David and Frank are waiting. Jerry stays behind to hold off more Fallen.

"Jerry, come on!" David barked. "Move it!"

The pilot hesitates. His rifle is dry and there were more Fallen coming after him. He only had his pistol left for his defense. I didn't know why he was still there, but I race my way to chopper without hesitation.

"Jerry, what the fuck are you still doing down there?!" shouted Cage. "Get your ass back here!"

"Just go without me!" he orders.

"What?!"

"Make those bastards pay for what they've done to city!"

"Jerry!"

"Go, now!"

The courageous pilot shot a couple Fallen down with his sidearm before they could all maul him down to death. Little did we know a mercenary on a water tower armed with a rocket propelled gun was in our presence. He aimed his rocket launcher at the horde consuming the brave little pilot as the rocket fired away towards them.

"Jerry!" Cried Cage.

Then boom. The horde was blown away like fire crackers popping exploding monsters and Jerry's arm holding his pistol landing on the ground away from the explosion in front of his comrades standing by on the chopper.

"Shit!" Cage yelled slamming his fist against the metal of the air vehicle.

The merc reloaded his RPG. Ready to blow us off the building. We were all on board and ready for take off. The merc aimed down his rocket launcher where the chopper was standing. We all got on board and David took the cockpit with Cage. We needed this bird airborne before the Fallen could reach us and the mercenary could blow us up.

"We'll fly! Cover us!" Cage ordered.

"On it!" I comply.

I pull out my sniper rifle off my back and clip down some of the approaching Fallen. When we're at least a few feet in the air, that's when I notice the mercenary who killed Jerry from a distance reloading another rocket into his gun. The merc has us in his sights. That's when I return my sighting to my foe. I aim down my rifle and look through the scope with immense accuracy and pull the trigger. The result is my bullet puncturing the brain and skull of the demolition merc killing him instantaneously and avenging our fallen pilot. Despite the merc taken out, his corpse inadvertently presses the trigger firing another rocket to blow us away into a fire ball. David quickly jerks his throttle to left to dodge the rocket and it misses. Hitting another building instead. And then we were off.

"Nice flying," I compliment.

"A flew a dozen choppers in Afghan," said David. "Don't have to tell me twice."

"Jerry, he...he would've done better," said Cage.

"I'm sorry, Captain," I apologize.

"I've lost my family in Arcadia Bay. I've lost a lot of good men here. And if we don't help Caulfield and Price, they would've all died for nothing.

"You're right," I said. "Let's go see if we can help them."

"HQ, this is David Madsen. Amber and Bowers are on the chopper. I'm with Cage. Our pilot is KIA, but we're still on our way to find Price and Caulfield."

 _"Roger that, Madsen. They're last transmission came from the Hawthorne Bridge. They shouldn't be far."_

"Acknowledged, HQ. Madsen out."

"Um, I don't want to spoil anyone's parade here," said Frank. "But does anyone notice that strange shooting star in the sky next to us?"

David and I turn to our left to see something hovering over the buildings like a blimp caught on fire. It wasn't a shooting star from the clouds that had been summoning Fallen. It was rather something manmade. Something burning out fuel that turned into fire from it rear.

"What is that?" I ask.

 _"HQ to all teams! We have confirmed an armed missile heading for Downtown Portland! I repeat, Downtown Portland!"_

"What the fuck?" I said. "A missile? It's headed for the city!"

 _"HQ to Madsen. We are patching you through to Caulfield and Price right now."_

"Max, Chloe, where are you?!" asked David urgently.

 _"David, we're just right outside downtown,"_ answered Max. _"Why?"_

"Get the hell out of there!"

Max

April 23, 2014

10:05 PM

Portland, Oregon

Southwest Harbor

We swam across the Willamette river from the Hawthorne bridge wreckage to the southwest harbor. We've been swimming in cold water for almost half an hour and at last tough the land. Chloe and I catch our breaths from swimming a whole and dry ourselves on the harbor when climbing back on solid ground. The two of us catch our last breaths from bailey escaping a tampering stutter controlled by Chronos and swimming across the Willamette.

Once we've dried ourselves of our wet clothing, we could see the heavy damage the Hawthorne had taken from the cargo freighter. There was smoke, fire, and ash illuminating the core of the bridge and the jammed frigate that had crashed through. The remnants of that collusion we barely survived because of the stutter. I'd rather be in control of a stutter myself to save Humpty Dumpty from having a great fall from a Blackwell roof than foreseeing obstacles through the blizzard. That'd be the least bit more bearable than that. We could the voice of a Chrysalis trooper echoed from across the harbor.

"Echo to HQ, come in," said the soldier from the distance. "We're escorting civilians in downtown to safety."

We glance at the destruction of the bridge one last time before walking across the docks.

"Did we finish it?" asked Chloe.

"I don't know," I said. "But we did what we could. Let's go."

"Hey you!" a soldier yelled. "Stay in the line!"

Must've been scolding a local to stay put with the escort procedure. My partner and I starting walking across the harbor to get a closer glimpse of the evacuation. Everyone in downtown should've been evacuated by now. Guess they're only evacuating what's left of Portland.

"There's been no sign of Neo-Chrys or Fallen activity here," a soldier's voice was heard. "Why are we evacuating?"

When we get across the harbor, we can get a view from a balcony and civvies meandering in a crowd with military hummers and soldiers. There were some soldier posted next to the crowd as lookouts for the evac. Families of men, women, and children walked along the street next to the harbor on the road to refuge from this attack. It was beautiful. No firefights, no skirmishes, just Chloe and I getting a grand stand view of sanguinity and hopefulness.

"Is it over?" asked Chloe.

"Yeah...it's over," I said.

 _"Caulfield, this HQ. We have a situation. We've confirmed a missile launching to your location southwest of downtown 30 miles from you."_

"A missile?" I question. "What missile?"

 _"We believe it to me the same super weapon design used to hit Arcadia Bay six months prior. You may want to find the safest distance possible now!"_

"The same one that struck Arcadia?!" questioned Chloe "You mean..."

"HQ, could you check and see if there are any Chrysalis units near downtown?" I request.

 _"Just one moment."_

While HQ patches us through to a channel link to nearby Chrysalis units, Chloe gazes at the dark sky and witnesses a spark hovering five-hundred feet in the air. Igniting some sort of engine fire through the rear of the unidentified flying object.

"Oh my god," said Chloe.

 _"Ok, we've a David Madsen on the line. Patching you through to his chopper."_

"It's David!" I say out loud.

 _"Max, Chloe, where are you?!"_ asked David.

"David, we're just right outside downtown, why?" I ask.

 _"Get the hell out of there!"_

The missile was approaching it's target rapidly and downtown was just ahead of it now. As everyone in streets continues evacuating, the missile zooms through the building above the roaming civvies and prepares to detonate in the city. The missile's turbines begins to ignite to initiate it's detonation sequence. Then the missile blasts itself into smoke and the people surrounded erupts into a mass panic with screams and hollers. And then the missile blast spreads a dark fog the floods the streets. A toxic gas that consumes every civilian running for their lives from the gas.

Downtown was now the mist from Stephen King's novel. Why would Neo-Chrysalis want to launch missile in the city if the portal in the sky opening Elysium wasn't enough pressure to put on Portland itself. Perhaps they acknowledged all their defenses were down and now needed a missile to keep us away from the Chrysalis tower.

The locals inside the buildings had been safe inside from toxic fog. People had peaked through windows ogling the fog outside. Little did they know that the gas would transform everyone consumed in it into monsters. Turning them into Fallen monsters. Then the people outside transformed into Fallen beast jumped out of the fog and smeared on the glass windows snarling at the people indoors with their grotesque faces. Leaving everyone indoors panicking. Then the human turned Fallen crashed through the glass and began attacking everyone inside. Dominating and tearing their victims apart like vicious animals.

Soon the streets was now flooding with Fallen slaughtering the locals. Consuming them like zombies in a George Romero film. Just when I thought this was an action movie, it was now a horror movie with apocalyptic tropes from a zombie film. With the shit hitting the fan and all hell breaking loose with Fallen demons attacking civvies in the streets, now things have only gone from bad to worse. A rock and a hard place.

 _"Max?! Max, are you alright?!"_ cried David.

"Yeah, but things just got bad!" I tell him. "Real bad!"

Chloe and I could see Fallen attacking soldiers and civvies from the harbor. People running for their lives and soldiers fighting for theirs. This wasn't the place we'd hoped to be in. Just when we thought we were in the safest place possible. All thanks to the missile it wasn't.

 _"Damn it!"_ yelled David.

"David, listen to me. I need you to contact HQ to provide us support through this plague. Can you do that?"

 _"I'll try. I'm with Rachel and Frank on the chopper. We're headed your way incase you need us. By the way...Captain Cage is dead."_

We blush with shock for a moment hearing the word about the fate of Captain Cage. He was now dead. A brave soldier lost to this attack.

"Copy," I reply. "I'm sorry, David. He...he was a good soldier. I solute his valor."

 _"It was an honor serving with him, Max. He sacrificed his life for ours. He's in a better place now. David out."_

"Are you okay?" asked Chloe.

"Let's just get to that tower and get the hell out here," I said.

 _"Echo to HQ, do you read me?"_

 _"HQ to Echo, report!"_

"Hey, what the hell are you girls do over there?!" shouted a dark skinned soldier on the stairs of the balcony. "We need to evacuate! Come on!"

We recognized the soldier. It was Lieutenant Mason. Cage's second in command coming to assist.

 _"We've detected traces of the Fallen gas. Downtown's gone to hell. We're trying to get it under control, but...shit!"_

"My god," said Chloe.

"We can't stay here!" I said. "We got to move!"

The two of us come with the Lieutenant down the step from the balcony. Every military truck drives away from the harbor drive and all civilians cleared the streets for evac. Now it was time for us to evac ourselves.

"We're moving in to search for surviving evacuees," Mason informed HQ.

"Wait!" said Chloe.

"We want to help," I tell Mason.

"Alright, come on," replied Mason. "This way! Don't go near the gas!"

"Don't worry, we won't!"

Lieutenant Mason escorts us through an alley to avoid the incoming gas. We need to take a detour somewhere in downtown for exfiltration.

"We're taking detour through downtown," said Mason. "That's where our evac vehicle will be waiting for us. Stay close to me and we'll get through this."

The three of us including the Lieutenant rush through the streets avoid the fog and Fallen. We had to cut through an outlet store to avoid a mass pocket of Fallen gas in order to succeed our detour. We enter the store as a friendly soldier lets us in and shut the door behind us.

"You okay?" asked the soldier. "What's it like out there?"

"All I can see is a shit storm," said Mason. "And I don't think that's the half of it."

"We're heading back to Beaverton to round up more evacuees," said the soldier. "We've got a vehicle out back if you want to hitch a ride."

Fallen were about to break themselves inside and we ran upstairs in the store to safety. We race ourselves across a hallway on the top floor to get to the vehicle out back. We were almost through and we weren't stopping for anything.

"Where's our ride?" asked Mason.

"It's just outside, go!" ordered the soldier.

Before making our exit, a heard of Fallen zombies came rampaging down the hall behind and we had to hurry out the door. Our getaway vehicle was just ahead of us.

"Go, hurry!" the soldier urged.

Chloe, the Lieutenant, and I burst through the door making our escape. Unfortunately for the other soldier at our assistance, he was left behind to hold off the Fallen for us. He hung onto the doors as Fallen latched on him and were about to maul him to death.

"Don't look back!" cried the soldier. "Just go!"

Without any other choice, the doors shut in front leaving the soldier to die for us and the Fallen to finish and devour him. Didn't matter. It was time for us to go. The vehicle caught our eyes and there was no more time to lose.

"Quick, get inside," said Mason. "We need to move."

Mason gets in the driver's seat. I take shotgun and Chloe gets in the back. Mason starts the engines and we drive into the toxic fog through the dark streets. Definitely something out of a Stephen King novel. At least we were save inside the vehicle from inhaling into the toxic fog. For now.

"Where did all this fog come from?" asked Chloe.

"Probably from the missile," I answer.

 _"HQ to Charlie, change of plans. Entry to downtown if prohibited. Retreat and wait for further orders."_

 _"What?! But Echo Team is still in there! They need us!"_

 _"Fallback! That's an order! We can't risk anymore men in there!"_

 _"Dammit!"_

"You know I think I recognize you, Lieutenant," said Chloe. "You were at my house last week after the shooting when I got in trouble with you guys."

"I remember you, Price," said Mason. "I can't say we forgive you for your actions with Caulfield, but I can say that it matters less now. All that matters is that I get you two to safety and finish this."

I look through the windows of our hummer to see Fallen roaming through the fog. I remembered taking trips to this city and driving through this part of town when it was the best place to be. Now it was a wasteland frenzied by terrorist. Hard to even forget the horror here.

"This is bad," I said.

"Did Crosby do this?" asked Chloe.

Then another hallucination merges in my head and I see snowfall on road we drive on and through the fog. Then the voice of Chronos once more.

 _"Pure white snowflakes fall all around. You can feel them melt on your skin. You are not cold. It cannot overcome the warmth of your beating heart."_

The mirage stops and my seeings return to normal. Then the Lieutenant drives us somewhere that's fog free and that was the farthest he could take us. Mason stops the truck to drop us off.

"This is as far as I can get you," said Mason. "The Chrysalis tower should just be a few more clicks ahead of you now. You two keep going. I'm gonna head back and try to find the rest of my team. Good luck out there. Be careful."

"Thanks, Lieutenant," I said. "We're gonna need it."

The two of us get out of the hummer and the Lieutenant departs our presence. Then HQ radios us again for another debreif.

 _"HQ to Caulfield. We've confirmed phase three as success. Turns out the cargo freighter the crashed through did some of the damage for us and it looks like it's up to you two to stop Derrick Crosby and complete phase four. We're sending a chopper on you way to get to the Chrysalis tower quicker. I'd get a move on if I were you two. Just get to the extraction point where the chopper's in route and finish this once and for all. Good luck out there and be careful."_

"Thanks, HQ," I reply. "As far as I'm concerned, Chloe and I are your last hope of finishing this. Caulfield out."

The road we were dropped off on was blocked by a barrier of debris fallen from the buildings. I give Chloe a boost to raise her over the debris and lift her upwards. I take Chloe's hand from on top so she could pull me up and we both get across the fallen debris. Then proceed with the operation as planned.

We pull our pistols out and raise them in front us to check our perimeter. When we have our guns out and observe our surroundings, we hear the sound of a truck horn not far. There was a big rig that had lost control and was about it us. The two of us dodge out of the way as the tanker fumbles on the road and collides into a corner of a building. Then the tanker leaks gallons of gasoline and eventually ignites an explosion. Sending us flying a few feet away from the combustion and land our asses on a car parked in the middle of the road.

The force makes us land on our backs against the car and knock us down on the asphalt. Rendering the both of us outcold and immobile. Karma's still a bitch as long as we were in the middle of this attack. That was for damn sure.

 **Note: Incase you've already guessed, the end of this chapter was how the episode started. It may seem obvious, it may not. Now for those of you exhausted from all the monotonous action in this finale, worry no more. Cuz I'd like to tease everyone that the next chapter shall deliver some emotional fan service to you all. A big surprise to reduce the pacing a notch before the action resumes. My treat to all you LIS fans still in touch who want and deserve something that belongs in the right premise. Trust me, you'll adore my fan service I'll bring to this episode that I've alwasy wanted to write since chapter one.**

 **Until next time, stay tuned and golden!**


	16. To Serve In Heaven

Chapter 16 To Serve In Heaven

Chloe

April 23, 2014

Unknown

Unknown

Elysium

I lay down on a rough but malleable ground with leaves piled on grass. I peel my eyelids gently to witness myself out of place elsewhere. I didn't wake up in the slums of Portland where I was knocked out and down for the count by the shock of a tanker explosion, I woke up in some orchard with autumn leaves descending from exuberant trees. Karma's a bitch enough when your in the middle of a warzone, now I appear to be dreaming in some autumn haven.

I softly pick myself back to my feet to see a golden sunlight enlightening the scenery. Where was I? Am I dead? Is there really a heaven? Is this the mythology of Elysium? Wherever I was, however I was, this all looked so real and not so real comparably. Then I see an illusive figure among the horizon of this imaginary haven. From a distance, the figure started a manly silhouette walking out of the sun ray. I squint my eyes to get a closer visual. The closer the figure approached, the more recognizable he became. Then at last, the figure's distance was close enough to be renowned as a shocking and awe familiarity. A figure to serve in heaven.

It was him. The figure's likeness resembled as man with a sharp face, blonde hair, and ocean blue eyes. It was the one and only imperative man who had a longer life with me ahead of him had he not deceased from a petty fatality that killed him like an animal. The true parental man I've ever known since I awoken from the womb of my mother. The most kindly, beautiful, benign, and beloved father only known to me. It was William.

"Dad?" I gasp.

I feel a tear about rain down my cheek. My face is pale. I've never seen my Dad's face in so long since the day he signed his death warrant. My jaw drops in trepidation. For the first time in six years of my father's passing, I at last see his face once more. This dead man's face was the eye of the beholder in this imaginary place. I receive my late father's gorgeous smile to his daughter he left behind for a decade long. I'd forgotten how much that always made me smile.

"My Chloe," my Dad chirps, laying his hand down on his chest.

"I...I - I thought I'd have more to say to you when I saw you again," I said.

"That's okay," says Dad.

"I'm - I'm not dead, am I?"

"No."

"Oh, good. Heh, I'd hate for Max to see me killed in an explosion after everything we've been through, ya know."

"She loves you very much."

"I know."

My dead father comes closer to his only daughter so we would interact with one another more closely. Where do I even begin in this unexpected reunion in this subliminal vision? What last words should I tell my Dad before this is all over? Before I can say my last goodbye, my father is the first to speak.

"You've grown so much since I've been away, Chloe," he says. "It's so wonderful seeing you all gown up."

Then I know what I'm going to say and I spit it out knowing I was about to break down severely and accepted it.

"I loved you so much, Dad," I begin. "I still love you. When you left the house for Mom that day, I thought you would both come back to me alive and safe and that we would continue to be a happy family together. That we would all live happily ever after and we would be together forever. But we didn't."

I could no longer suppress my inevitable sorrow. This is when I let it all out and let the tears embrace my tragic grief.

"I'm so sorry, Dad," I say with a sniffle and a tear. "I'm so sorry I let you down. Why? Why did you leave me? I would've followed you anywhere, Dad. You never said I love you. You never said goodbye. And then you just die like a fucking animal out of nowhere! Abandoning your own daughter for life!"

This is the part where I'm on a full scale breakdown. My father gives me an ashamed frown to see his daughter broken down in a heartbeat.

"It isn't fair! You should've come back to me," I sob. "Instead Mom leaves me with a Dad I never asked to be. I spent the rest of my days being a selfish and rebellious little shit to Mom and David with Max gone and Rachel being to only friend I had. I don't know what I was thinking. I couldn't live without you! David was never like you! I am such a spoiled little shit! A hypocritical little shit!"

My face turns completely red with the tears melting me down and heartbroken.

"Why did you have to go?!" I whale. "I'm a disgrace! I've only done this to myself! I...I -"

"Hey, come here," said Dad, allowing me to hug him.

I gently caress my Daddy enfolding my arms around his waste and burying my weeping wet face on himself and gagging my whaling voice against his shirt. He caresses his comforting arms around me to allow his daughter's old wounds to heel.

"I'm sorry," he says. "I'm so sorry I let you go through this. I never left you, Chloe. Never by any means did I ever want this for you and your mother. I would never abandon my little girl for anything or anyone. Now look at me in the eye for just one second."

I turn my head up and look at him with my sobbing face directly in the eye as he tells me to.

"Let's get in the car," he says. "We can talk about the rest of this inside, okay?"

I turn my head behind his body to see my Dad's old car in front of me. The same one he died in during his accident. Wasn't sure what it was doing here or why, but we both got inside for the last conversation I'd ever have with my father in death.

I step inside the front passenger seat of Dad's old station wagon and he takes the wheel. Then we drive off into the sunshine through the autumn orchard on an imaginary road. I stare at my father in car while riding off into this heavenly place. I take a moment to hold the tears down, take a breath, and say what I need to say before my Daddy goes away again. Then the music plays in the background from the stereo in the car. It was an oldie Dad used to listen to.

 **The Last Thing On My Mind - Clarence White**

This was country music by Clarence White who used by a lead singer and guitarist for a group from the seventies called The Byrds. Definitely one of William's favorite groups he used to listen to. I turn to my father to figure out what I'm going say still. Still trying to shake the tears out of me. Then he turns his head to me back. I then know what I'm going to say, but he's the first to talk before me.

"Hey, so what did you want to tell me?" he asked.

"I...I don't know what else to say to you, Daddy," I say. "I missed you so much. You don't know how much it hurts to see you go away and then see you again. Just once in my life."

"I missed you too, Chloe. You and Joyce. You must have something to say to me now that you're seeing me again."

I wipe the tears off my remorseful face and sniffle. Attempting to hold my penitence when I speak.

"Remember when I was a kid? Max used to say that your Dad's a hero. All I know is that you used to read me bedtime stories every night, cook me breakfast every morning, and come home from work every day to play outside with me while Mom cooked dinner. Played with our cat Bongo out in the yard before he was run over. You were the greatest and most supportive part of family I could ever have. And then the day came when you threw yourself away out of my life. Max had to go away. Mom got in bed with a man I barely knew. Who was nothing compared to the man who always smiled and laughed with me. David always cared about Mom and I, but I could barely see it in himself. He was a man coming straight out of the Afghan war and always relived his patriotic paranoia to us. Always treated the family like we were at boot camp. I was no longer the daughter I once was since. I let my grief consume me so much to the point where I made the worst decisions that nearly destroyed myself and the family."

I'm still holding the tears as my father hang on to every word outside my voice box. Even though there were still tears running down my cheeks.

"But then Max came back to my life again to fix it all. Because of her powers, she was tempted to fix it all up so I could be a happy person again and help make up for my mistakes. She once told me that she once went back in time to save you from that accident that day, but then had to go back in time again to let you die again for my only good. I didn't know what to do without you, Daddy. You were my guardian angel. I'm such a selfish little shit. I destroy everyone and everything around me. And now the world's ending and I could end with it. It's over for me."

"Come on, Chloe. Don't say things like that. I for one am far from perfect. There's a dark side to everyone even myself included. I just don't dwell on it and let it consume me like you do. Focus on the good you can do. That's what matters."

"That's what've been struggling to do for the past six years without you now."

"No, it's not. Self-righteousness and self-centered actions doesn't change what happened. You make the awful decisions for all this lone wolf nonsense because your afraid of being abandoned and losing the people you care most about in this world. Why is that?"

"You don't know what it's been like for me all these years. They've been the worst. David used to say that he had lousy Dad and a lousy childhood that reduced his knowledge of raising a child the way you always knew how to. He never wanted children. But when Mom and I came into his life, he was obligated to care for us. I couldn't blame him for all times I was in trouble. All that Mom and David ever wanted was for me to be a good daughter to them and I'm not."

"You want to know what makes a good daughter, sweet pee? A girl who's out for others above out for herself. A girl who knows her limits, but isn't afraid to fail. A girl who knows when to ask for help when she needs it. One who does the kind of steps I would take when I was young. I wasn't always that person, but it never stopped me from trying."

"I don't know how to be that person."

"Sure you do. You just gotta follow the code. You remember what that is, right?"

"No, I don't."

"You don't remember the code we Prices promised to live by?"

"No, Dad. I don't."

"Because your lost, Chloe. You want to find your way out of the maze, the answer you're looking for is that if you get thwarted, c'est la vie. French for that's life. That is the code our family lives by."

How can it be so? I remember now. How can I just forget my family's code I've been living by since before my father's passing? If you get thwarted, c'est la vie. I remember now. My real father had been offering the same kind of lecture David had given me back in Seattle. The only difference was that William was lecturing from his mind and not David's. That was the mind more preferable to me.

"Oh shoot," said Dad. "It's time for me to go."

"What?" I ask urgently.

"Listen, Chloe. Just promise me one thing before I go. Promise me you'll move on, take responsibility, and remember our code. I want my little girl to be happy, and she can't do that if she's stuck on me forever. Promise?"

"Dad, I want to talk to you more. I promise, I'll do anything for my father. But I still want to talk."

"I can't, Chloe. As long as you keep your promise, I'll always be with you. And thank David for me. You'll always be my baby girl."

"No, Dad! Please, don't go! I love you!"

"I love you too, Chloe. I'm proud of you, sweetheart. I'll always love you. You're my angel."

"Dad!"

Then the sound of a truck horn is honked and I see the semi-truck about ram the car over. The one that killed my Dad with the drunk driver on board. And just like that, the Laurie truck collides against the car like a pound of meatloaf. Then with a flash, I was snapped back to reality and awoken from my sub-consciousness.

Chloe

April 23, 2014

10:37 PM

Portland, Oregon

Downtown Portland

"Chloe? Chloe can you hear me?" asked Max. "Say something."

I drift back to my consciousness. Awakening to see Max's face and hear her voice in reality. I feel like my waste just cut itself. It stung a little and felt numb.

"Mm, Max?" I moan. "What happened? I must've passed out."

"We're even now. Don't ever do that to me again okay?"

"Max, I-I saw him again. I saw my Dad again. I must've been dreaming. He was there in Elysium. I haven't seen his face again in so long."

* * *

After Max is attacked by a Fallen zombie and patches me up, we walk down the alley towards a Fallen infested freeway where we run away from an explosion caused by a downed jet fighter that landed on an oil tanker and toward our chopper that was to pick us up and take us to the tower.

* * *

Then the pilot is knocked out from a RPG hit and Max is forced to take the throttle. Then the helicopter loses control to point where hit the propeller hits a few sign hanging from building and onto a moving train.

* * *

And then eventually, crash through the Chrysalis HQ building where our totaled helicopter lands into the lobby and is down for the count. Where we barely survive jumping out and land on the floor with an electrical ad poll collapsing onto the center of the lobby. But we weren't done yet.

* * *

The two of us pull out or guns to check our surroundings. In doing so, some in a heavily armored exo-suit jump in front of us out of nowhere on his own feet. We point our guns at him at our own defense. And we now know who've we just encountered.

"Back for more?" asked Max.

 **Note: So how's that for my surprise fan service everyone? I almost cried when writing this. Still holding the tears anyone? Now you know what Chloe was doing when she was out back in the prologue chapter. She was having an Uncle Ben-esque moment with William in Elysium. I hope I've delivered some greatly written fan service to you all for those wanting a little more emotion added to this Michael Bay action ride.**

 **A little trivia for the song playing in the background. The song is by Clarence White and was his last song before dying in an automobile accident affected by drunk driving. It was sort of way to foreshadow William's cause of death that I first interpreted. Turns out I got it right when watching five seconds of William's accident in the Before the Storm trailer. Hit by a truck likely due to a drunk driver.**

 **There's also a little connection between Max's and Chloe's POV in the prelude scenario of this episode. Max is traveling through hell on Earth escorting her passed out girlfriend to safety granting it the title 'Better to Reign in Hell'. Chloe is experiencing a vision of her Dad in Elysium when passed out earning it the title 'To Serve in Heaven'. Both are part of an old biblical testament saying quoted by Satan.**

 **Until next time, stay golden!**


	17. The Right To Be A God

Chapter 17 The Right To Be A God

Max

April 23, 2014

10:57 PM

Portland, Oregon

Chrysalis HQ

It was Alexei Ranikov himself. The man with the gray hair and scar between the eye suited in his heavily armored exo-suit. The man who killed Dr. Sorenson and held hostages and gunpoint on stage, including Alyssa. The Russian bruiser stands in front of us with a malicious grin and his bulky armor equipped. We were now facing the enemy of our enemy with brute force and formidable vigor.

 _"Max, how nice of you to join us,"_ said Crosby on the buildings intercom.

"Crosby!" I snarl.

 _"Don't worry, your mission is at it's end. Elysium is on the eve of it's appearance. Over billions of cries of agony will birth a new balance."_

"Sorry, Crosby, but not on my watch!" I snap.

"I could've killed you myself at expo the previous night, Skuchat' Caulfield," said Ranikov in his deep accent. "Now you will die a more painful death that what I had to offer."

"Can't say that hostage holt was entirely discreet, you commie fuck!" garbled Chloe.

"Discreet is for the feeble, Skuchat' Price," replied Ranikov. "You shall die as well."

 _"Soon even you will understand, Max,"_ continued Crosby. _"One glimpse of my new world and it will all make perfect sense."_

"Show yourself!" I bluster.

 _"Unfortunately, it's too late for you. You will not live to see the dawn. I will leave you now with my subsidiary subordinate. Though you have been an excellent daughter figure of mine, consider this my farewell gift for our much needed closure. Alexei, kill them both. Farewell, Max Caulfield."_

With all that said from our super villain of this story, Ranikov tosses an explosive grenade flying in our path and we immediately dodge out of the way before it blows up in our faces. This was a two on one fight. Two of us against a Russian extremist leader in a heavy exo-suit. We weren't equipped to fight him head on nor with our weapons. We needed to strategize and strategize fast before Ranikov would turn the both of us into a Pricefield sandwich via his exo-armor.

"Your going to die here!" the Ruskie raider shouted.

Chloe and I separate from each other. Taking different paths around the lobby for greater odds. The man arms himself with a Spas-12 shotgun to cut us down like rabid dogs. So we made a run for it and take different paths to avoid getting caught in our predator's sights.

"Chloe, split up! The odds will be more in our favor that way!"

 _"I'm on it!"_

The two of us were on the run from a psycho war criminal in power armor and we needed a plan to take this guy down quickly. Think Max, what are your options here? There's a guy in an exo-suit stalking his prey with a tactical shotgun. What do you do?

"Chloe, if you've got any wild guesses on how to take down some commie bastard in exo-armor, I'm open to suggestions!"

 _"Max, there's electrical wire sticking out of the walls! We can use those to ice that bastard!"_

"And how would we do that?!"

 _"I don't know, Max. Try shooting them or something! Lure him over to the wire so you can shoot them when he's up close and electrocute his ass! That ought to do the trick!"_

"Perfect!"

I come around the corner of the damaged wall where the electrical wire hanged. The big boss in the exo-armor had fired his shotgun shells in my direction as he chased me against my will. I duck and cover behind a few small walls in the desecrated lobby so I don't get shot at. When I'm at a decent distance away from the electronic damage and Ranikov, I make sure my target is in the right spot for me to shoot the wire. I fire a bullet through the wire igniting a spark that touches Ranikov and shocks him.

The spark of lightning from the wires immobilizes himself and his armor. Causing his left arm pieces of his armor to burst apart. Doing actually damage to his suit and dropping him to his knees. When the shock wear down, the man was down but far from out. He gets up with his left arm pieces missing and his skin and armor bruised from the electricity.

"You think you can stop me?!" taunted Ranikov.

The Russian brute reboots his armor, then charges towards me like a wild bull and I was left to be the bull fighter with no red cape to lure him over with. Ranikov than seizes me by the shoulder to give me a head butt twice as hard. His armor made him stronger than the Hulk. He raised me by the neck with his strong bear hands. I attempt to shake him off with my weak fist giving him a few knocks across the face left and right. It was hopeless. The man then carries me like a log and tosses me across the room like a puppy.

"You're weak little devuska!" barked Ranikov.

My body fumbles on the floor when my body is thrown fifteen feet across. I slowly but firmly pick myself up sustaining my injuries from this fight. This was not going to be a fair fight between two teenage weaklings and vile brute. If I was to keep this strategy up, I could not let my guard down in doing so. Speaking of never letting my guard down, Ranikov took the pin off of three hand grenades and tossed them to where I fumbled.

"Incoming!" taunted Ranikov.

Before the grenades went off, I time dashed away from the explosive projected just immediately as they all blew away like fire crackers. There had to more electrical wire loose in the battle damaged lobby. That's when Chloe was helpful.

 _"Max, shoot the electrical wire over there!"_ she ordered.

I made a break for the wire hanging out of the ceiling of a balcony to lure my predator over. Ranikov kept shooting his shotgun as I ran as far away from him as I could. The thumping of his armored feet only made him slower for a commie big boss. You'd think he'd run faster. I just hoped he hadn't figured out my strategy already.

I keep my distance from the wire, wait for Ranikov to come close, shoot at the wire, and shock him. Dispersing his left arm piece and angering him even more. What did it take to bring this guy down. The man had some kind of temporary immunity to lightning with his armor on and I had to keep fight

"You will not stand in the way of Neo-Chrysalis!" thundered Ranikov.

The badass he was, he once more tossed three grenades in unison towards his prey and I made a dodge for it via time dash. There was some wire lying around on the floor and I could use that as my next trap.

I stand between a minimum distance from the wire and shoot it to shock more lightning at the armored bruiser. And I do. Taking him out right there and then was a shot in the dark, yet he still didn't go down. Though it did disperse his chest piece of his armor leaving only his leg pieces on and his skin baked by the electricity. The damage I caused him fed him more and more rage and furiousness.

"Maaaxx!" roared Ranikov.

"Hey, asshole!" shouted Chloe. "Eat this!"

Chloe leaped behind Ranikov and jabbed her combat knife into his shoulder. She did hurt him, but compared to three fatal electrical shocks from tube wire, a knife to the shoulder most certainly wouldn't suffice unto the war criminal's demise. Ranikov knocked Chloe off his back with his muscled arms disemboweling her to the floor. The man pulls the knife out of his shoulder in attempt to finish Chloe off by stabbing her through the heart.

Chloe catches the knife in the man's hand before the blade could kill her instantly. Ranikov had her pinned to the ground and Chloe feebly wrestled the knife against the man's will. Grunting and panting her dear life as Ranikov was five times stronger than her and was about to sluggishly puncture the knife through her chest with his greater might. That's when I notice Ranikov had dropped his shotgun when attacking Chloe.

Even though I could rewind to be sure Ranikov didn't kill Chloe, I went for the shotgun, pulled the pump, and aimed for Chloe's assailant. Then I deliver the final blow shooting a shell into Ranikov's back through the chest and kill him at once. I had blown a shotgun hole through his heart from the back and the man gurgled his own blood out of his mouth then faltered to the floor next to Chloe.

Ranikov was dead and left to spill his blood out his arteries like a water puddle. With the Russian killing machine killed in action, I help Chloe off the floor and we both glance at the corpse of the fallen war crook. Blood flooding out of his veins in a puddle. The least bit this monster allied with another monster deserves. Chloe kicks the dead man and spews saliva on him.

"Do us a solid and don't fuck with Super Max and Wonder Chloe you fucking commie sack of shit!" mumbled Chloe.

 _"Max, Chloe, do you Read. It's Rachel. Come in."_

"We read you, Rachel," I said. "Are you alright?"

 _"We're fine. Don't worry about us. Just listen carefully. There's something I need to tell you. Crosby's chrononic strength come from a syndrome. The same syndrome Max and I carry. But his syndrome is unstable. In order to maintain a balance he must inject himself regularly with a serum."_

"A serum?" Chloe asked. "I thought the syndrome was balance taking pills. Not injections."

 _"It can be balanced however it can. The serum is a drug used to suppress overuse of powers that Max and I have. A drug commonly known as Chronox."_

"So if we cut the supply of serum he looses his strength," I assume.

 _"Affirmative, but he should've taken a dose by now. So it's gonna be a while before he needs another one."_

"Damn," I said.

"You're tell us this now, Rachel?" asked Chloe.

 _"Listen, according to Dr. Sorenson, the amount administered has to be precise. So if he injects to much it should act like a poison. I think Ranikov carried a serum for Crosby labeled CH67A/W."_

"CH67A/W?" wondered Chloe.

 _"David, Frank, and I are gonna try to find a way over to you guys at the Chrysalis building with our chopper. Ranikov always kept it with him in an attache case. Rachel out."_

"Hey, what's this?" asked Chloe.

My partner had noticed a case attached to Ranikov's body. An attache case as Rachel mentioned. Chloe opens the case to unveil two syringes of the drug we need with the right label.

"Max, look. CHG7A/W. Just what we need. This is it. Right here."

"That's it alright. Let's give it a shot."

We take the doses out of the case and take them with us whenever we make our next encounter with Crosby. We get inside the lobby elevators to take them up. I imagine Crosby must be scanning us through security cams watching how far we can make it past Ranikov. All that I knew was that Elysium and the Arcadian adversity was going to be brought worldwide with Project Elysium and we were the world's last hope of stopping.

We're inside the elevator and route it to the very top floors. Either Crosby will stop the elevator in it's tracks or actually wait for us to oppose him face to face. Either way, nothing was going to stand in our way. Not tonight, not tomorrow, not now.

Meanwhile, as I predicted, Crosby looks at the security cams in his office with his desk computer and spots us taking the elevator up with the elevator cam on. Impressed, Crosby was hyped to see us face him again and await for his next trap to spring for us.

"So, you've made it this far," said Crosby sighting us on the elevator monitor. "Too bad you won't make it much further.

Then Crosby flashes back six months earlier in Arcadia Bay. The night before the storm.

 _October 10, 2013_

 _9:30 PM_

 _Arcadia Bay, Oregon_

 _American Rust Junkyard_

 _Crosby rode in Jefferson's car during a rainy night in Arcadia Bay. Jefferson was driving him to the American Rust Junkyard where they would be meeting Nathan Prescott. The two of them had a conversation in the car before they arrived._

 _"A new superior suspect with supernatural powers is in Arcadia," said Jefferson. "One that could possibly be exposed to chronon syndrome. That I can confirm is Max Caulfield. There's no way I can predict it's Victoria Chase. I can sense the greater innocence in Max more than I can with Victoria. Just like Kate Marsh. Just like Rachel Amber. Rachel was entrusted with endless potential, yet made herself look expendable as everyone else. I can assume that Lazarus project you've spent the last six months for Ms. Amber is going well?"_

 _"Better than ever, Mark," said Crosby. "Better than ever. I can assume you haven't told anyone of this, have you?"_

 _"Not a soul, Derrick. Not a soul."_

 _Jefferson drives his car to the junkyard gate where Nathan's truck is parked. The could see Nathan talking on the phone sending his late message on voicemail._

 _"The storm is coming!" he wailed. "I see all of you! You've all gonna die! Tell my family I love them. Even though I haven't been the son or brother to them, they're the best family I've ever had. Goodbye, Max. Be careful."_

 _Nathan hang his phone up and turn over to the car lights approaching him. Crosby and Jefferson step out of their car for their final meeting with Nathan._

 _"Well, here I am," said Nathan. "I didn't come all this way to win the lottery. You might as well get it over with."_

 _"Nathan my boy," said Jefferson. "Now's not the time for fear. That comes later."_

 _"Later? First I get Rachel killed, then Kate almost killed, now you want me to do the same with Max and Victoria? And you're saying fear comes later?! The two of you are a disgrace! A disgrace to family, a disgrace to this town, a disgrace to me! I never asked for your help Mark. I never asked to take Daddy's pills. And you, Derrick, I never asked to by your lab rat in a bunker under a still mill. Arcadia Bay is about to end in less than a day from now and I'm all done being used by the both of you."_

 _"Are you saying that you're threatening to expose our cause, Nathan?" asked Crosby. "You know what happens to people who do so."_

 _"You think I don't know why you've both come here? I know why you sent me here. Apparently my last session confirmed me one-hundred percent unstable to my chrono sensitivity and I'm to be terminated for it. You know what, that's not fair. I was to become a god. Seeing things no one else sees. Such as the storm that's coming. The storm we could save everyone from. My family built that bunker under our barn so we could protect lives. Not take them. However, all was lost with that dark room. Despite that setback, maybe Project Elysium still holds great significance. Now I'm about to see that myth for myself if you kill me now. Ironic, isn't it? For one who has the right to be a god. To face his own mortality."_

 _"The right to be a god," said Crosby._

 _"You need me, Derrick! Just as I needed you! I won't let my suffering go to waste! I won't let the deaths I've caused be in vain! I deserve every god given right to be a god! I'm the prodigal destiny of the Prescotts and I've got the power to make everyone bow before the son of Arcadia Bay!"_

 _Jefferson pulled his gun out his jacket and pulled the trigger. Shooting Nathan point blank with a bullet to the heart. Nathan gasped with his dying breath. A blood stain spewing out of his shirt and jacket. Then dropped to his knees, collapsed on the grass, and died._

 _"That right is now mine," said Crosby._

 _Crosby and Jefferson overlooked Nathan's bleeding body lying dead on the ground in satisfaction. Not only had they killed the son of Arcadia unremorsefully, but extinguished the boy who irrationally thought he had to right to be a god of his own._

 _"The right to be a god?" Crosby asked himself. "You? Arrogant even until the end. Only one truly capable of being a god deserves that right."_

April 23, 2014

11:11 PM

Portland, Oregon

Chrysalis HQ

Crosby flashed back into reality. Facing the present and the righteous personnel claiming his privilege to be a true god

"The right," thought Crosby. "With Elysium, I have that right. I shall be thanking you, Jefferson. You as well, Nathan."

 **Note: Well folks, we're nearing the final act of this finale and it should be awesome. Remember Jefferson's catch phrase "Always take the shot"? Crosby's is "The right to be a god". Make any sense? Whether or not, our journey doesn't end here. It ends with taking Crosby down and the Wonder Twins kicking ass and saving the world from the Arcadian storm times one-hundred.**

 **Until next time, stay golden!**

 **P.S. Happy 4th of July!**


	18. Ascension

Chapter 18 Ascension

Chloe

April 23, 2014

11:12 PM

Portland, Oregon

Chrysalis HQ

I gaze through the glass windows on the elevator to see the more damage done to this great city. I could see what's left of that gas that turned everyone into Fallen demons from afar, stars still descending from the sky, and buildings set on fire. There wasn't much time. In less than an hour, Elysium was about to break the world in two and Max and I were going to keep that from happening. This time, we're not letting civilization get destroyed for our own profit just like Arcadia Bay. This time, we're making the better good our number one priority. Our ascension to victory. Even if it means a sacrifice of any kind. Maybe.

I thought back to when I envisioned my Dad again. Hella almighty was it so breath taking to see his striking face again. I'd do anything just to wake up in front of his eyes once more. Perhaps Crosby wasn't giving us bull when he told us we could see our beloved dead again. However I saw my Dad, however Daddy got to see his little girl one last time, it felt so real. It's almost as if I died for a few minutes before I woke up and I was attended to my wounds. That was at least one theory I had in mind.

"I was just thinking back there when I was out and how I saw my Dad again," I said. "What if Crosby's right about Elysium? What if I actually could see him again if I wanted to?"

"Don't let Crosby twist you head, Chloe," replied Max. "He's not so sentimental as he is egotistical. It's just like he said, he's planning to spread this attack worldwide."

"Looks that way."

"Things are getting much worse now. We have to stop him here and now. I won't have another incident like Arcadia Bay on my conscience. Not again."

 _"Caulfield, this is Admiral Penske. Come in. Do you read?"_

"Admiral Penske?" replied Max. "This is Caulfield. I read you."

 _"We stand on the brink of global catastrophe. This world faces imminent annihilation from Crosby's attack. We're out of time. You and Price need to locate Project Elysium and shutdown the source of the portal opening. You only have thirty minutes to accomplish your task. Understood?"_

"Affirmative. One way or another we're taking Crosby down. No question asked. Caulfield out."

The elevator stops at the thirty fifth floor and the doors open for us to walk. We get out guns ready and hole them up in front of us. Ready to attack anything that moved. The halls were quiet. Too quiet. Quiet enough for us to waltz into another ambush or anything else Crosby had waiting for us to stop us from attaining to him. Alexei Ranikov was already a no-go and there was liking to be other mercenaries waiting besides Crosby's doorstep. There was no sign of any mercs so far. Instead, we encounter worse.

We hear the elevator bells ring and the elevator that just went up doesn't let out a bellhop serving hotel guest. It miraculously lets out Fallen walkers or zombies out of the den. Call them what you want. This would be our first fight on the top floors before setting foot in Crosby's office where he'd most likely be located. We knew what to do when there was Fallen walkers about. I turn to Max eye to eye and we nod our heads for combat preparation. The two of us aim down our pistol sight forward unto the Fallen heard like an episode of the Walking Dead. Then the fight began.

 _"Your persistence is an insult, Max. We will end you here and now."_

The Fallen charged at us and we let our bullets start flying. I shoot some rounds on some Fallen with my pistol as Max does the same. Every Fallen that tries and snare us we shake away and shoot them dead in the head. I had lured a Fallen to my side and quickly swift to the side before it could touch. Then I shoot it across the face like the rest. Soon, the heard of Fallen started to surround us from both directions.

Max makes out like John Wick and Chow Yun-Fat to perform some crazy stunts with her pistol. She turns pistols sides shooting back and forth clipping down every Fallen standing in Super Max's way. She even grabs a walker by the neck and shoots him across the skull. I do something similar by flipping a walker over by his back and cut him down with my bullets. Once every Fallen was shot down and turned to dust with all our bullets and the halls were clear, it was time for Maximus and I to kick some more ass further. I catch my breath from fighting so many Fallen like a shoot 'em up video game character.

"I'm starting to hate these fucking mystical animals by the hour," I whine. "I'd like to save my strength for Crosbitch."

"We will, Chloe," said Max catching her breath. "As long as Chronos doesn't summon any more of his minions, we should be fine. Let's hurry our ass up before the world ends in less than half an hour."

We were nearing the door to the elevator lobby. I stood next to the corner of Crosby's office door and Max stood next to the other. We kick the doors open to find a pack of armed mercenaries posted inside the lounge. The two of us stop ourselves in our tracks as soon as the mercs are alerted and spot the two of us enter.

"Eto oni! (It's them!)," a merc shouted. "Otkrytyy ogon! (Open fire!)"

I jump for cover behind a couch when the bullets start flickering. The two of us hid behind cover with the office infested with PMC's unloading their automatic guns at us. I fire pistol out of cover to shoot a few mercs down. Max does the equivalent. Then we here Crosby's voice on the intercom again while the boogies on our six open fired.

 _"Max Caulfield, this is futile. A waste of time. It is time the both of you learned that the needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few. You can not stop us. There is no turning back now. It ends here. And with it, your lives."_

At that very second, a helicopter flew in front of the lobby's window with it's spotlight shining through. Everyone in the room stopped firing with light blinding everyone including us. Then the chopper's guns open fired shooting through glass and butchering every one of the mercenaries stopping us from reaching Crosby. We ducked behind our cover so we weren't shot at, as well. And then it just so happened that it was David, Rachel, and Frank on their chopper coming to rescue. Once they shot down all the mercs in the room, we were clear to push forward.

 _"You girls just don't know when to stay out of trouble do_ you?" Cage said on the radio. _"Did someone order a Calvary?"_ Rachel radioed in.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes," I said. "Where've you guys been all night?"

 _"You thought we'd leave you behind didn't you?"_ asked David. _"Good soldiers don't get left behind."_

"Nice shooting, David," Max complimented. "Thank you. We owe you one. Drinks are on us once this is over."

 _"Good luck in there you two,"_ said David. _"Especially you, Chloe. I promised your mother I'd bring you back from this fight alive and you owe it to her to keep that promise in return. Just stop Crosby from whatever he's doing and finish this. Be careful."_

"We will, David," replied Max. "Max out."

The helicopter flew out of out sight and we were left on our own for now. We could really use Rachel's help by now. I wonder if she was any crazy ideas to break into this building to give us a hand. Knowing her, I'm sure she does.

 _"Max Caulfield, you're fighting a loosing battle,"_ Crosby's voice interrupted. _"You cannot survive this. You will die. Stop fighting. Make it easy for yourself. Accept you fate. You will die here."_

"Did I just hear him say that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few?" I ask. "Does he get his lines from Star Trek?"

"I'm sure he does, Chloe. Now to get up there shut Mr. Crosbitch's trap up."

"You and me both."

Max and I exit the lobby and find ourselves walking outside a balcony and towards a dead end. Luckily, there was a construction lift to help us get to the next floor. We get on the lift and raise it to the next floor above us. Then we see David's chopper flying next to us. Must be observing the two us to make sure we weren't in trouble.

 _"Max, Chloe, it's Rachel. David's going to try and find a way for me to get inside the top floors so I can help you out. Can you two work that?"_

"What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, Rachel," said Max. "We can."

The lift stops at the upper balcony of the floor above us. We hop off push forward inside. The next floor takes us to the central skylight lounge were more mercs are waiting for us. As always, it was going to take more the a few mercs to drop us where we stood. The mercs shoot their auto-rifles at us. We shoot our pistols at them. Then Crosby's voice continued monologuing via the intercom again.

 _"Max Caulfield, Chloe Price, face it. Your up against an unbeatable force. You have already lost. You have lost. Only death will set you free of your pain. Accept it. Surrender. Give up."_

"Don't listen to that mother fucker, Chloe! Keep fighting! We can make it!"

Max and I were the real unbeatable force. If there's one Blackwell warrior with super chrononic power and another Blackwell warrior who's gun is black and hair is blue, the odds of beating an army of Neo-Chrys mercs would up the anti from two over two hundred. Never tell us the odds as Han Solo says.

We were almost to Crosby's office. Taunting us through the intercom, he was most likely to still be in there. A bunch more of Crosby's thugs began to floods the halls when exiting the skylight lounge. We were getting closer to the office. I can feel it. We both made out like John McClane from Die Hard and did our thing.

 _"What do you mean they're unstoppable?"_ Crosby asked his henchmen on intercom. _"You are superior to them in every way it counts. You are better prepped. Better equipped. You outnumber them at least twenty to two. Keep them away from the project any cost! Do - your - job!"_

Max had to use her powers a couple time when fighting the guards down the hall. Whether it'd be time blast to push the guards away or time shield to make it easier for us to be protected against enemy fire, it was all the more reason no one fucks with the Blackwell Avengers. As soon as Max got finished with most of the house cleaning, Crosby's office was just ahead of us now. We now got this asshole cornered.

Once we busted our way inside Crosby's office, he was no where to be seen. Instead, of course, there had to be two striker mercs standing by Crosby's desk. Safe to say that Crosby left the two strikers standing guard for us to be lured inside and bump into them instead. Unsafe to say that I was no match for mercenaries that move like Quicksilver. Now I'm screwed.

Luckily, Max was able to handle the striker with ease. Before they could thruster themselves to our side, Max performed a time rush to their side and a side flip to outmaneuver the striker and shoot their thrusters pack off of them with her pistol. Sending them flying off their feet and knocked down on the floor. She finished the job by puncturing led into the skin as they both tried crawling on the floor for mercenary. Then the boss's office was cleansed of mercs.

"Like I said," Max began. "Can never let your guard down for a second."

"My name's not Super Max," I say. "So I wouldn't be able to keep my guard up as well as you would and event though my name's Wonder Chloe, I don't have the super powers to take out two striker bastards at once. Just saying."

"Don't let your guard down for a second. Just saying."

 **Note: Okay, folks. Get ready for an epic fight scene between Max, Chloe, and Crosby in the final chapter. Pretty much a chapter you've all and I have been waiting for. It's gonna be tight, it's gonna be brutal, and best of all...it's gonna be epic! Needless to say, Rachel is probably going to be included as well in the three on one fight with Max, Chloe, and Crosby. The LIS trio vs. the big baddie twice as bad compared to Jeffershit. Who doesn't compare to Crosbitch. Just saying.**

 **BTW, I'm going to San Diego this weekend so I might not be able to write or post anything until then. But we'll see what I can do and see what happens. I'm getting pumped up about completing my story already!**

 **Until next time, stay golden!**


	19. Deep Ambition

Chapter 19 Deep Ambition

Max

April 23, 2014

11:40 PM

Portland, Oregon

Chrysalis HQ

After our onslaught against the dozens of Neo-Chrys mercenaries, we walked down the hall the lead us to Project Elysium dead ahead. What lied ahead was an epic duel of the fates I felt coming a few feet away from us. We've seen Crosby's superhuman powers and what they were capable of twice already. The first time back at the Tillamook Saw Mill outpost, and the second back at Pioneer Square. We kept our guns in hand and fingers on the triggers to prepare for a two on one effort.

We enter the project room to see the man in midnight leather and shades himself right in front of us standing by the railing of the balcony in the room. Overlooking the project's field generator and the ESR sourcing the portal upon activation. Time to finish this once and for all. We raise our guns to corner him from behind.

"Your plans are finished, Crosby!" I blurt.

"There's no way out this time!" snapped Chloe.

"Don't you two ever tire of failing in your mission?" questioned Crosby. "You've really become quite an inconvenience for me."

The man removed his glasses away from his eyes and tossed them towards us like a boomerang. I instantaneously catch his shades in my hand while thrown in mid-air second before it fumbles in my face. Then Crosby time dashed towards me and butted me with his arm pit disabling me to the floor. And then Crosby takes Chloe by the arm and twirls her body to floor slamming her on her back. The superhuman in leather put his shades in front of his eyes again overlooking his downed opponent.

It was time for me to improvise and adapt to my fighting. I fire my pistol at my adversary only for him to zig-zag past my bullets as usual. I charge at my opponent grasping him by the stomach only for him to slow my down with his bear feet, hit me on the back with his elbow, and toss me over to the railing. I get back up to shoot at him again just so he could perform back flips dodging my bullets, seize Chloe by the arm, and restrain her by his arm. Chloe struggles to fight Crosby's grip. I have my sight aimed at the two of them.

"Why are you doing this?" I ask Crosby, holding my gun down on him and his hostage. "You have nothing to accomplish by unleashing Elysium!"

"Every day, humans coming one step closer to self-destruction," the man answered restraining Chloe by her neck. "I'm not destroying the world, I'm saving it!"

Chloe managed to release herself from Crosby's grasp. That's when I start firing my pistol again. Every time Chloe and I unload our rounds on the man, he either gives us a kick or a punch to hinder ourselves and dodge our fire. Then Crosby seizes my right hand and Chloe's left hand to twirl ourselves off our feet sending us falling off the railing and landing on our fronts. I accidentally drop my dosage of Chronox serum I took for Crosby in the process.

"This guy's lost it!" mumbled Chloe.

I pick up my syringe of Chronox as the two of us leisurely get up on our feet.

"This may be our only chance," I said.

Crosby leaps over the railing to land on out ground.

"Do it," said Chloe.

Once Crosby hits the floor on his feet in front of us, the roofs of the project room opens itself up leaving us with open sky and the project's generator to boost it's portal streaming. Releasing high voltage shockwaves through the tower's antenna to enhance the Elysium signal. We had less than twenty minutes to shut this thing down. Over Crosby's bleeding corpse on the floor.

"Things are really getting interesting now, eh, Max?" asked Crosby. "Do you actually think you can defeat me?"

"Either way, I'm not gonna stop until I'm dead!" I bluster.

Crosby chuckled maniacally.

"Well, then," he says. "I'll just have to kill you quickly."

The super villain himself time dashes towards us and we evade from his path. Fighting this guy wasn't going to be easy as a slice of pie. Especially, when our guns are ineffective against the man. There had to be a way to improvise.

"I'll see you dead!" screamed Crosby.

Think, Max. What are your options here? There's a man dressed in midnight leather with powers twice as powerful than yours. There were post lights on the corners of the roof where the project's main reactor was being risen and not to mention M23 grenade launchers lying around in a corner. What if we killed the lights to blind Crosby from noticing incoming fire? Then we could use the grenade guns to fire explosives at him to stun him and then inject the serum.

"If you've got any crazy ideas to drop this fucker to his knees, I'd come up with one now!" shouted Chloe.

"If we could take advantage of the dark, we might actually hit him," I suggest.

We make a break for the light switch to kill the lights. In doing so, Crosby pursues us all over the room. We avoid him as much as possible before he could stop us from shutting the lights down. I reach for the switch and pull it to kill the lights. The light go out and we're now in the shadows.

"There's no point in hiding!" mocked Crosby.

Our next step was to reach for the grenade launchers. I grab one for myself then use my time vision to find Crosby in the dark. Assuming he hasn't found us in the dark via his time vision if had that power too. Which I'm sure he does.

"Has it never occurred to you that this planet is underpopulated?" asked Crosby in the dark. "Only a handful of petty tragedies truly matter. Everything else is just so much chaff. So now, I have to separate this chaff from the wheat. And with Elysium, I can finally accomplish this!"

Crosby sounded almost a lot like William when he spoke of chaff and wheat metaphors. I had my visual on Crosby with my time vision, aimed my grenade launcher, and fired away. The grenade I shot was caught in Crosby hand, but not before it blew up in his face dropping him to his knees and rendering him stunned. I time rushed towards my enemy and restrained him his throat.

"Do it now!" I shout. "Give him the shot!"

Before she could rush towards us to inject him with the serum, Crosby flipped me over, punched me in the gut, and pushed me towards Chloe sending me flying ten feet from him and stumbling into Chloe. Fumbling the both of us on the floor. The last step of this pattern to kill Crosby was going to be uneasy. As often, we get up on our feet to embrace our trivial struggle.

"Only those with no one left to live for will be chosen by Elysium," said Crosby. "Only those fit for paradise will be allowed to carry their souls into a new age!"

"And let me guess," I say. "You're the one that's going to rule this 'new age', right?"

Crosby time rushed to the light switch to turn them back on again. Only making things harder for us to take him out with only fifteen minutes remaining to shut Project Elysium down. Then the man leaped over to higher ground by the reactor to do something devastating.

"Your struggle is over!" he thundered.

Then Crosby charged an absorbent of energy in his hand and thrust a time blast at us. We ran for cover to avoid getting wretched by this time blast. He continues to throw all his chronic energy at us like a hurricane storming through a city. This fight with Crosby was becoming more and more of a Final Fantasy boss fight by the minute. And then Crosby leaped back onto our ground to finish us off since his time blasting didn't.

"Your merely postponing the inevitable!" snapped Crosby.

Suddenly, the sound of automatic gunfire was heard from our presence. The automatic gunfire itself was spraying down Crosby from the balcony we came from when entering the room. It was the Mary Sue Rachel Amber equipped with a FAMAS rifle spraying bullets down on Crosby from above. Crosby used his time shield to block Rachel's firepower. Rachel evidently knew her bullet couldn't drop the man down that easy. She may have just been creating a diversion for us to get the drop on him while we still could. And that's exactly what we did.

I fire my grenade launcher at our guy, he catches the grenade with his super strength, then it explodes in his hand stunning him to his knees. I time rush my way at him. Despite my ability to move at super sonic speed, Crosby instantly recovers himself from the blast and counters my rush. Grasping my by the arm and tossing me over on the floor like a puppy. By now Crosby must be evolving his strategies. The question is can we? The man chuckles maliciously again.

"He, he, he...is that all you have?" Crosby taunted. "Let me clarify something for you, Max. I don't think of myself as a king."

"Haven't I heard enough of your crazy talk already?!" I mutter.

"No, I am a god! And even kings bow to gods!"

"A god?!" smacked Chloe. "Seriously? I think he's completely lost it!"

"He never had it to begin with!" I shout out. "We have to stop him!"

"In time, I will be the god of the afterlife!" gloated Crosby. "I will be the god of paradise!"

"Your god of nothing, Crosby!" shouted Rachel. "We're going to end you where you stand! Tonight!"

Rachel fired her rifle at the lights to shoot them out for us so there wasn't the need to flip the switch again. The place was now pitch black with no way to turn the lights back on again. Leaving Crosby a sitting duck. It was Super Max, Hella Punk, and Wannabe Star, against Doctor Crosbitch. Three on one evening the odds more.

"You can't hide forever!" echoed Crosby.

Rachel leaps off the railing to our ground to join the fight. I equip the grenade launcher in my hands again and aim my arc towards Crosby. I fire the grenade stunning the man as usual. Once Crosby was stunned for the third time, Chloe's the one to restrain him by the throat. Time to OD this fucker and finish this.

"Do it!" she shouts. "Inject him!"

I never hesitate to finish the final phase of the pattern. I time dash my way to Crosby subdued by Chloe temporarily and at last inject the serum into Crosby's skin. Once the syringe is punctured, Chloe releases Crosby from his grasp as the man himself can feel the sting of the serum entering his body. The three of us step away from to prepare for the worst.

At first, Crosby stumbles backwards fumbling on his knees. Attempting to remove the syringe out of his body as the dosage kicks in. Of course, he does indeed take the syringe out of his skin. There had been some effect with the serum kicking inside of him so far.

"Did it work?" asked Chloe.

"I think so," I said.

The psycho in midnight wear was now immobilized with the dosage kicked in enough to make him holler in agony and scratch his face. His vision was also going amok and his blood vein goings haywire. There was also a nosebleed draining out too. It would appear Crosby was suffering the same kind of side effects I would suffer from my powers. Only his side effects were taking a turn for the worse. Even then, an OD wouldn't drop this superhuman. The bald man dressed in black leather tosses his shades to the side and raised himself back on his feet.

"The isn't over, Max!" hissed Crosby.

Crosby made a run for the reactor leap over the top like a frog. He was about to climb up to the antenna to finish what he began. The three of us just couldn't let him get up there and get away with whatever he was doing. Now he was King Kong and we were the planes in the sky stopping him.

"Chloe, Rachel, he's getting away!" I shout. "Hurry!"

We three run after Crosby up to the reactor core and climb up the ladders to get up the antenna. Time was running out and we had less than ten minutes to stop Crosby and the end of time itself. The world is on the verge and brink of obliteration and it only had minutes to be prevented from that. We were officially out of time.

The climb up to the antenna was a long one. We could see Crosby getting his head start and climbing far above us. We can even see the world on fire from below and the portal in the sky getting worse from above where we climb. Crosby appeared to have reached a platform high above the antenna. When the three of us get on Crosby's narrow platform, we were now a thousand feet from the ground. Nearly as high as a passenger plane would fly. Maybe more.

"It seems I may have underestimated you, Max," said Crosby on the platform.

"Save it, Crosby," I said. "There's no one left to help you now."

"I don't need anyone else."

Crosby slammed his fist against the metal of the antenna and growled. Breathing heavily still tempting to resist his OD.

"I have...Elysium!" the Matrix dressed psychopath grunted. "In less than five minutes, we'll reach the optimal signature for portal completion. Elysium will be released worldwide ensuring complete global sterilization."

Crosby ignited his time dash towards us and we all swift to the side. The man punched me in the gut and uppercut his fist against my jaw. Then twirled me by the arm again and kicked me down on the narrow platform. Crosby pulls his pistol out and shoots at both Chloe and Rachel as the two of them flee.

"Your feeble attempts only delay the inevitable," said Crosby.

I get up to fire me gun at Crosby to divert him from arming my two subordinates. Just as the man dodge every bullet like a video game bug zig-zagging left and right, he approaches me at a speedy pace.

"The entire world will be unraveled," he continued.

Crosby now has his gun above my forehead as I have my still aimed between his eyes as well. The two of us cease to fire with two guns at each other throats.

"A new genesis is at hand and I will be the creator," he invoked.

Rachel now approached us furiously and swung her combat knife in hand to intervene my coral with Crosby. He dodged Rachel's attack by back flipping and wall jumping onto the antenna for safety. I fire my gun at the man hanging onto the antenna just for him to jump off and leap shoulder to sweep kick me by the legs and kick me to the floor again. Rachel improvises and swing her knife to her opponent again just for her opponent to block her swing with his elbow. Though the knife was jabbed into his skin, Crosby snared Rachel by the throat to asphyxiate her. Rachel struggled and then wrapped her legs around Crosby to twist and turn him to the platform. That's when I rush towards Crosby to give him another injection with an extra strain I carried.

"I've had enough of your bullshit!" I snapped.

Crosby fumbled a little with his second dose shot in his body. He was down, but still not out. Then I remember his words he said to me up on the elevator during my tour.

"You want affection without tragedy," I say. "And power without limits. The world will never work that way. Even when you make it work that way, it won't last forever. Not at all."

"You know what we have to do," said Rachel.

The tree of us spotted a lever that could override the project's deployment sequence. It was our only way of saving the world once and for all.

"Alright, I'll go for the override lever," I said. "You two cover me."

I race for the lever while Chloe and Rachel have my back. When I make the break for the lever, the other two fire their guns at Crosby as he dodges bullet by wall jumping on the antenna. I make it to the lever and pull it down as Crosby throw his fist next to me and smashes it through the metal.

"You'll pay for that!" he snaps.

Then we can feel something wrong with the gravity. Somehow the override didn't work. We were too late. It was now midnight and now the portal in the sky seemed be sucking us in the air like a vacuum.

"Hang on!" I shout.

Then the gravity throws us off the platform and forces us to stumble on the antenna. Rachel and Chloe stagger themselves on the antenna and hang to the metal as tight as possible. The same thing occurs to Crosby. The same thing occurs to me. Our five minutes were up and as Crosby mentioned, the portal now reached it's optimal signature to bring about Elysium to the world. The unforeseen and certifiable myth fulfilling Crosby's deep ambition.

I could see Crosby holding Chloe by the leg with the gravity pulling us in and me hanging onto my end. I stare it Chloe's face in fear and peril. She grits her teeth hanging onto the antenna with all her might and vigor just as I do. Then it hits me again. I was now witnessing an inevitable but futile death of the love of my life. It couldn't be so. We stare face to face in great jeopardy. I then flash back to every death of Chloe Elizabeth Price I've ever confronted since the beginning. From Nathan's aggravated assault in the bathroom, to the jammed train tracks with an incoming train, to her deathbed in the reality she never lived, to her fatal headshot by Jefferson shooting her in the face, to now. And now she could no longer hang on and her hands slipped from the metal falling away with Crosby. Not today. Not tonight. Not now.

"No!" I scream.

I release my hand from the metal bars on the antenna to reach for Chloe and catch her before the portal sucks her in. Then Rachel drops in and catches my arm while still hanging on to a metal bar. We're now four paper dolls hanging onto one another by the arms being vacuumed into the portal in the sky. Crosby still has his grasp on Chloe's leg and hangs onto it with both his hands.

"I'm taking the three of you with me!" he barked.

"Like hella you will!" shouted Chloe.

She went for her gun and put a round in him releasing him from his grasp on my partner in crime. Then was now levitating higher in the air as portal reeled him in. The rest of us couldn't hang on much longer. And so we inevitably embrace our fate and let go off the antenna to let the portal reel us in as well.

We three few were now levitating higher and higher in the portal and screamed in unison. Just us the portal was reeling the three of us inside to another world now intertwining with ours. The end of time was here. And so were the end our lives. Life was over for us. We had failed. We were no more.

 **Note: Well, I'm back from San Diego finally posting this while I still can. Hope you enjoyed this epic fight with Crosby, but it's not over yet! We're only a few more chapters away from completion! Isn't that exciting?! They'll be more epicness to come in the last few chapters of an epic climax to my fiction I've long awaiting since episode one. I won't spoil too much but to say that the ending will be emotional but satisfying. At the very least, bittersweet at best. And trust me, my story will end nothing like either ending to season one. Enough talk.**

 **Until next time, stay golden!**


	20. Life

Chapter 20 Life

Max

April 24, 2014

Unknown

Unknown

Elysium

I lie down on a snowy ground with my body limp and eyes sealed. I can feel the temperature as frozen as the environment itself when I begin waking up. Returning to consciousness was surprisingly as easy as waking up from bed in the morning after just being sucked into a portal. I look around myself wide awake. I have returned to the frozen forest. I have returned to Elysium.

While gazing around the frozen woodland, I see Chloe and Rachel lying down besides me. They too both get up off the snow waking up from their shock as well. Then we hear a young man's voice closing in next to us. And we knew who that voice belonged to.

"Well, well, well," said the dead rich kid named Nathan. "Max Caulfield, Chloe Price, and Rachel Amber. You three look like shit."

"Nathan," I whisper.

"N-Nathan Prescott?" said Chloe confounded. "W-What the fuck? You're dead. Is that really you?"

"Oh no, Chloe," said Nathan. "It's Pinocchio you're talking to. Except that I'm real boy who is dead and his name is Nathan. No fucking dur it's me. Look at you all. A Blackwell trio who thought they knew shit but didn't know shit and let the shit hit the fan as always. You haven't changed at all, have you? Welcome to Elysium. Where good men and women go to die."

"What do you want from us, Nathan?" I ask. "You're obviously not here to gloat about how much we sucked at life now that we're in a dead man's world."

"Let's say that I am, Max," he says. "Why do you keeping fighting? What are you trying to prove? You go from an innocent hipster taking horseshit photos to hang on a wall just to do nothing but be herselfie day after day to some vigilante entering an ISIS-esque group's world who set her up for no good."

"Neo-Chrysalis doesn't compare to ISIS," I say. "I still can't blame you or your family for what happened in Arcadia Bay. Not anymore."

"And you, Chloe," Nathan continued. "Once a punk ass, always a punk ass. Surprisingly speaking, punk ass enough for someone to actually miss her punk ass after all. I though at the very least you would miss a poor little rich kind pumping drugs to students ya know."

"I know that I'm not going to even pretend to missed your opulent ass to begin with," said Chloe. "After what you've done, you think by telling us you were manipulated by terrorist it makes everything you've done to us okay?! You didn't threaten me at gunpoint in that bathroom because I told you what to do! You threatened me because you thought you owned me! Like everyone and everything else in town! I couldn't be anymore gladder you're out of my life permanently as I want you to!"

"And what about you, Rachel?" asked Nathan. "What changes have you made since your resurrection from the OD I gave you in my family's bunker. Or should I call it - the dark room, heh?"

"The only thing that has changed about me is that I've learned to be a vigilant and selfless human being," said Rachel. "Despite being a crude and selfish human being. Besides, what have you done for me other than helplessly watch me getting tormented and raped by a bonafide psychopath who tried to make me his innocent looking model?!"

"Oh, I've done much worse since the dark room, Rachel," admitted Nathan. "I too drugged an innocent religious girl named Kate into the dark room for Jefferson. I assaulted Chloe in a filthy ass bathroom with a gun in my hand and almost shot her in the gut if not for Max's rewind power. I'd do anything to make up for what I've done. You know what, let's cut to the chase. I'm here to help you start over in order to save your world from exalting itself into this one. But first let me explain to you all what this world is capable of. The god of time. They call him Chronos. After his place of birth, he wants to help us."

"How is 'this' helping us?!" I mumble.

"Would it make it easier if you could see him?" asked Nathan. "If you could see him right now, would that help you understand?"

The god of time Chronos teleported himself out of nowhere in the flesh. That way everyone could see him. Though I witnessed this mythical being myself, Chloe and Rachel hadn't. The time god himself stepped forward next to Nathan for his introduction.

"You've been fighting him," said Nathan. "We all have. You just need to relax. The frozen forest, Elysium, it's real. And it's what comes next. Chronos has given us a way to live on after death."

"You're not Nathan are you?" I question. "You're not real. None of this is!"

Nathan's ghost and Chronos evaporated into thin air and vanished from our presence. Leaving the three of us on our own in the frozen woods. So much for helping us save the world. Not that I ever liked Nathan as a friend to begin, but leaving us alone out here in this imaginary consign wasn't helping.

"What the hell was that about?" asked Chloe. "Where the fuck are we? And who the hell was that with Nathan? And how did we even get to this fairy tale anyways?"

"This is the place I've been envisioning for myself, Chloe," I explain. "This is it. Unless you haven't been paying attention, this is Elysium. It's a frozen forest. Who you also saw was Chronos the god of time next to Nathan. What you're seeing is everything I've been seeing for six months since Seattle. That simple."

"Then this must be the place Crosby obsessed about," said Rachel. "That portal we were just sucked into must've brought us here. I still don't understand how we're still alive."

"Maybe we aren't," I said.

"Well I'd know if I was dead, Max," said Chloe.

"I don't even know what dead means anymore," I admit. "Are we Fallen? Is this what they feel like after Chronos reanimates them?"

Chloe impolitely whacks me across the head with her hand. I guess it must've been the dumbest thing she's ever heard.

"Could you be anymore cereal?!" she mutters. "Hella no! We are not Fallen! For all we know we're still us - and just us only! Whether we're dead or alive, we failed. The world has already ended and we fucked up as usual."

I turn my head away from her to see the mystical doe again. I stare at my spirit doe standing on a hill that then stares at me back. Then it hits me. Of course, follow my spirit animal and we find the answer to saving the world if there was still time to make things right. The spirit doe prances up the hill and we had to follow it up there.

"Or have we?" I said.

I walk over to the hill when Chloe and Rachel are still in question.

"Where are you going?" asked Chloe.

"There still may be time to make everything right," I say. "Follow me."

The two of them follow my lead up the hill as I attempt to follow my spirit creature's trail. We walk up the snowy hill all the way to the top only to reach a dead and meet up with familiar faces. I had seen Chronos and Dr. Sorenson standing by a cliff side narrowing a waterfall and a broad view of the giant tree with the giant heart towering the sight from an extensive distance.

Sorenson his on his knees next to Chronos being interrogated by the god himself. Of course we would see someone like Sorenson since he was killed during the raid at the expo. The three of us walking closer to their presence until we close enough to hear them out. We had no clue what Chronos wanted from this dead man, but that was why were here with them.

"I...need...an answer!" growled Chronos.

"It was always about control," the dead scientist began.

Sorenson noticed us walking by and saw us listening to his discussion with the god of time. We hang onto every word he says to all of us as bystanders. Whatever Chronos wanted from him, it was nothing good.

"Do you have any idea just how much technology has changed every single aspect of our daily lives?" continued Sorenson. "You can't begin to imagine the - countless strains of research and development we had to watch over for the betterment and safety of the human race. Every gimmick and gadget we embraced by the public. Each one presented new ways for creating contingencies to our greater security."

The man smirked and chuckled at the three of us and Chronos alone.

"Society doesn't just happen," said Sorenson. "The people need to be protected. If the only way to prevent future attacks is to monitor the souls and desires of the population, then the choice is obvious. We need to know who are enemies are and what they are planning! That is how we save lives!"

And then the dead doctor and time god vanished in thin air. Leaving the three of us by ourselves again. We had no option but to slide down the cliff to a river with the waterfall just to keep going. And so we did. And when we did, my feet splash into an icy cold pond. The water was shallow enough for me to walk on, yet too cold for my feet to walk on. When Rachel and Chloe slid into the water, they both griped about how cold it was to walk on.

"Brrr, my feet feels like it's inside of an icicle," whined Chloe.

"What you expect, Chloe?" asked Rachel. "We're in a frozen forest. Not a tropical beach."

"Okay, Max," said Chloe. "Now I know how it feels to be you when you obsess with your imagination about the end of time. This frozen forest is weirding me out already."

"Just stay behind me, you two," I said. "I have a feeling the only way we're getting out of this is by sticking together and following Chronos."

Once we've crossed the pond, there had been a portal of some kind we had to walk through. No matter how much weirder this world could get, we understandably had to walk through it somehow. Once we're through the portal, we're at another snowy hill again and Nathan reappears in front of us again. For a spirit living in Elysium, he could go wherever he wants to.

"I can't do this anymore," the spirit of Nathan said. "You're going down a path I can't follow. This is as far as I go."

"We lost you a long time ago, Nathan," I said.

Nathan vanishes into atoms and we walk up to the hilltop. On the snowy hilltop, Chronos stands at the top where he has Dr. Sorenson tied like animal with trunks holding him up like a starfish. The three of us join in to see what Chronos was doing to Sorenson's spirit next.

"What are you doing with him?" I ask Chronos.

"Understanding his motivation to this world," he replies demonically. "Every soul I interact with is here. Living beyond death. If I choose to allow it."

"What more do you want?" asked Sorenson, bound to the branches. "I told you everything."

"An answer," says Chronos. "To know the purpose for which my world was interfered. An understanding. I want to know why you did it."

"Our special project," replied Sorenson. "Nothing more."

The man himself chuckled out loud.

"You weren't interfered," he continued. "You were relied upon to catalogue and track the souls of others - so that we the people - could decide what action to take. You're a myth! A phenomenon! A mistake!"

"I - am - not - a mistake!" Chronos roared.

Chronos uses his telepathic power to pull Sorenson's limbs with the vines tying him down and the doctor's body burst into a gush of blood. The god had vanished and Sorenson's soul was DOA. A fucked up thing to do for a god to vanquish a poor soul. Nothing we could do for him.

"Now what the fuck do we do?" asked Chloe.

"We stop this bullshit and finish this," I reply.

When we get up the hilltop, we see three portals that open in front of us as well as the giant tree with the giant heart on top towering the winter woodlands. Then I had an idea in mind of how to stop this once and for all.

"I think I've just found our way to stop this once and for all," I said.

"What is it?" asked Chloe.

"You see that big heart on top of the big tree? That might be our ticket to ending this. These portals look like they could take us to conduits that could destroy the heart of that tree. The heart has to be the source of stopping the end of time and allowing it to continue. We rip the heart out, it's our ticket to getting out of this world and saving ours."

"Right," said Chloe. "So, which portal do we take first?"

"It might make more sense if we split up and take separate portals," suggested Rachel. "Which one are you gonna take, Max?"

 **X/SQUARE/LM - TAKE THE LEFT PORTAL**

 **A/X/MM - TAKE THE CENTER PORTAL**

 **B/CIRCLE/RM - TAKE THE RIGHT PORTAL**

"I'll take the center portal," I say. "Chloe, you get the right portal. Rachel, you get the left. We all know what we have to do. We find the conduit on our ends and destroy them while there's still time left to save our world. That's all that matters."

"No argument there, Maximus," said Chloe. "We know what we have to do."

"Let's do this," said Rachel.

We split up and take separate portals. Chloe's enters the right portal. Rachel enter the left. I enter the center. I enter through my portal to another part of the snowy woodlands. All I needed to do was find my way through the trees crowding the frozen ground around me. However, it would be much more easier said than done when a god of time teleports himself from behind me who was now pursuing me to stop me from reach the conduit to destroy the heart.

"You have merely delayed the inevitable," the god of time spoke.

I start running across the woods when vines start growing out of the ground blocking my path. The work of Chronos no doubt. Reaching the conduit was not going to be easy with an immortal individual about. I had to run around the vines blocking my path to race to the conduit. If that wasn't enough of a predicament, more Fallen creatures and zombies manifesting themselves in place were enforced by the god himself just to reduce my pacing to the heart's conduit even more so.

"I am Chronos!" the god roared.

I take out my pistol shoot my way past the Fallen while maneuvering past the growing vines rising out of the ground and outrunning Chronos. Then my mind tells me to say something when racing to the conduit. It tells me to say the therapeutic speech that was written for Project Elysium. I don't even hesitate or resist. It was like a mind probe forcing me to say it out loud and that's exactly what I do.

"Listen only to the sound of my voice," I start saying.

"Our power is unmatched," said Chronos. "We are your genetic destiny. Nothing stands against us. Face your annihilation."

"Let your mind relax. Let your thoughts drift. Let the bad memories fade. Let piece be upon you. Surrender yourself to your dreams. Let them wash over you like the gentle waves of the bluest ocean. Let them envelop you. Comfort you."

"Submit now, Max. You cannot stop us. We are the paragon of your perfection. You are ignorant. We are intelligent."

"Imagine somewhere calm. Imagine somewhere safe. Imagine yourself in a frozen forest. You're standing in a clearing. Trees all around you so tall they touch the sky. Pure white snowflakes fall all around. You can feel them melt on your skin. You are not cold."

"Embrace perfection. I will show you true power."

"It cannot overcome the warmth of your beating heart. Can you hear it? You only have to listen. You hear it slowing? You are slowing it. You are in control. Calm. At peace. In Elysium."

"You escaped us before, Max. Not again."

After fighting more Fallen across the tundra woodlands and running around past the vines and outrunning Chronos as he attempted to gain on me more and more, I reach another portal that I assumed would take me to the conduit. And it does. I am inside a dark place where I see another giant beating and glowing heart inside. Had to be the conduit.

"I'm coming for you, Chronos," I said. "You destroyed my people. You destroyed my world! I'm going to find you and I'm going to wipe you from existence! Do you hear me?! It doesn't matter what you throw at me! I am never going to stop fighting! I will not let go! Do you hear me? I will not let go!"

"Max, I always survive," replied Chronos. "You cannot kill me. You could've been useful. You cannot escape your destiny, Max. I will not let you go."

I reach for the heart formed conduit to find a way to destroy it. There was nothing more I could do except shoot the heart out to destroy the conduit. Once the conduit is shot down and is burst into flames, I could see above me that a few of the branches on the heart tree were now collapses. The first phase of escaping Elysium and stopping the end of time itself.

Chloe

April 24, 2014

Unknown

Unknown

Elysium

The portal I enter through takes to very colorful place. It had been the autumn orchard I was awakened to when I revisited my biological father again. Leaves on the ground, falling from tress colored in red, orange, and yellow, etc. By now Max and Rachel must have already gone through their portals to destroy their conduits and it was up to destroy mine.

Were it so easy, the god of time Chronos appears behind me to stop me. I'm no expert with the mythology of time travel the way Max is, but I sure as hella ain't gonna take on some freaky ass immortal god. I had to run away from him.

"Leave while you can, Chloe," said Chronos. "You are no superior than Max. You are weaker. I am stronger."

As I run through the orchard, Chronos appeared to be summoning more Fallen creatures in my presence. If it were ever so easy, I was going to have to fight my way past the Fallen with my gun. I shoot every last Fallen in my path that attempts to slow me down from reaching the conduit whilst Chronos pursues me through the orchard.

"I sense your weakness," says Chronos.

There's something going on in my mind that tells me to say these words out loud. The words were the one's written for the therapeutic speech of Project Elysium. It was some kind of probe in my head forcing me to say the words out loud without reluctance.

"Listen only to the sound of my voice," I begin.

"Your attack is an insult," mumbles Chronos. "My attacks will tear you apart."

"Let your mind relax," I continuing mumbling. "Let you thoughts drift. Let the bad memories fade. Let piece be upon you. Surrender yourself to your dreams. Let them wash over you like the gentle waves of the bluest ocean. Let them envelop you. Comfort you."

"Your world will be our laboratories."

"Imagine somewhere calm. Imagine somewhere safe. Imagine yourself in an autumn orchard. You stand in a row of leaves toppled on the grass. Trees decorated in a colorful haven. Colorful leaves fall off the trees. You can see them slowly descending to the ground. It cannot overcome the warmth of your beating heart."

"We will end you."

"Can you hear it? You only have to listen. You hear it slowing? You are slowing it. You are in control. Calm. At peace. In Elysium."

I outran Chronos as far as I could whilst shoot a bunch of Fallen with pistol and my mumbling the words in my head. I now reach a portal that must obviously takes me to the conduit. And it does.

When entering through the portal. I'm now in a dark place where an illuminating heart is seen. This enormous heart-like object must be the conduit I need to destroy the heart on the giant tree. Having no other idea how to destroy the conduit, I shoot at it a couple times until it ignites into flames and disintegrates into a crisp. Causing some branches on the giant tree to collapse and damage the heart of Elysium itself.

There had already been some branches that appeared to have fallen already. Without a doubt, Max must've already destroyed the first conduit and I destroyed the second. The first two phases of ending this were accomplished. Now all that was left to do was to let Rachel play her part and this would all be over soon.

Rachel

April 24, 2014

Unknown

Unknown

Elysium

I step through my portal and enter a place that appears to be a tropical beach of some sort. The environment of my dreams. Kind of setting and scenery I was born back in my home state of California. Warm sand, bright sun, palm trees, seagulls singing fifty feet above and wavy water from an ocean blue spells instant summer with a chance of happiness to me. Too bad happiness doesn't last forever when the god of time teleports behind you willing to stop you from reaching the conduit I had to destroy.

This was no time for a Sunday stroll on the imaginary island I was on. Especially when a spooky time god and his Fallen minions attempting to stop me in this void of Elysium. I run across my sandy path with my rifle in hand and start popping bullet onto every Fallen standing in my way. I had to reach that conduit and outrun Chronos from stopping me.

"Rachel, you will change nothing," says Chronos. "Your companion has the attention of those infinitely greater. That which you know is Fallen are your salvation through destruction. You will surrender your potential against the growing void. We return - and you will rise."

As I run and sprint across the sandy beach, something in my head make me want to say something out loud. Like a probe in my brain infecting my nervous system and forcing me to say something. It was constructing me to say the word of the Project Elysium speech written for it's therapeutic productivity.

"Listen only to the sound of my voice," I begin. "Let your mind relax. Let your thoughts drift. Let the bad memories fade. Let piece be upon you. Surrender yourself to your dreams. Let them wash over you like the gentle waves of the bluest ocean. Let them envelop you. Comfort you."

"You cannot stop us!" roared Chronos. "We are the harbinger of your perfection! We will bring our species into harmony with our own! Your species will be raised into a new existence. We are the beginning. You will be the end."

"Imagine somewhere calm. Imagine somewhere safe. Imagine yourself on a tropical island. You sit on the nice warm sand. The water drifting back and forth on the sand amidst the bright blue sky. Seagulls flying in the air chirping and singing to themselves. It cannot overcome the warmth of your beating heart. Can you hear it? You only have to listen."

"Prepare for our domination! Prepare for our coming!"

"You hear it slowing? You are slowing it. You are in control. Calm. At peace. In Elysium."

"You will be ended."

My struggle shooting the pack of Fallen and outrunning Chronos is put to a halt when another portal opens in front of me. I run through the portal to enter a dark cavern where a heart-like form glows in the center. Having no doubts it was the conduit I needed to raze. Seeing no other way to tear it down, I plunge some lead into it and it implodes into flames and into a crisp.

With the third conduit destroyed, a pair of branches fell off the giant heart tree. It would appear that the rest of branch had dispersed as well. Meaning Chloe and Max took care of the their own conduits. Meaning our struggle through the void of life after death was over. Or was it?

 **Note: Only a couple chapters left folks! There's one more move our heroes must make to finish this fight stopping the end of time itself before it's all over! And I'm sure all of you are guessing how this all ends already. Get hyped! I know I am!**

 **Until next time, stay golden!**


	21. The Last Enemy That Shall Be Destroyed

Chapter 21 The Last Enemy That Shall Be Destroyed

Max

April 24, 2014

Unknown

Unknown

Elysium

After subsequently destroying the conduits of the heart on the tree, our struggle was far from done. We had been teleported to somewhere a little less paradise and a little more wasteland. The atmosphere and temperature was more humid than the deserts of Nevada and Arizona. The three of us had been transported to some land with molten ground and blazing lava. Never did I think Elysium would take us to a place more like hell than heaven. But like Nathan said, the world of Elysium can be whatever it wants to be. Can't imagine who would want to live in a volcanic wasteland after death, however.

The three of us stand around in the volcanic area puzzled. We had just destroyed the three conduit to escaping this world and we were trapped in an imaginary land turned hellhole. Were we missing something? If we weren't, we still wouldn't be here.

"What the fuck, Max?" Chloe griped. "Where are we now?! I thought we did everything we were supposed to do! Where is here anyway?"

"I don't know, Chloe," I admit. "Wherever we are, it's pretty...volcanic here. It feels hotter here than a boiling pot of stew. Who the fuck would want to live here after death?"

"Uh, guys," said Rachel. "Look over there."

Rachel pointed out far into the distance where another conduit was in our sights. This time, the conduit was even larger than the ones we deconstructed. This conduit was huge. It was the size of a boulder and it stood on top of a tall platform above a narrow pit of lava. There was bridge of some kind that would allow us to get across the narrow pit. We destroy the conduit, we save the world from mayhem and get out of here.

"There's our last conduit," said Rachel. "It's huge. If we destroy that, then that'll be our way off this one way trip for good."

"Your right, Rachel," I said. "It's been a hell of a ride, but now it's time to get off this one way trip and stop this time fracture for good. Time to end this nightmare once and for all."

"You said it," said Chloe.

Before we could walk one inch to the conduit, we see someone emerge from the smoke on the molten ground. We held our guns up at the figure approaching. It was no other than the man, the menace, and the monster himself, Derrick Crosby. The man was stripped out of half his leather with his jacket and coat missing and only his pants still be worn. The bedeviling maniac himself approached us in clear view. Staring down at us with a sickening grin.

"I should've killed you months ago...Max," hissed Crosby.

"You're mistake," I blunt. "It's over, Crosby!"

"Over?" the man giggled.

The egomaniac chuckled with a malicious laughter.

"I'm just getting started," said Crosby.

Crosby throttled his fist into the burning ground and something out of the ground came swarming onto his arm. Some kind of organic matter mounting on Crosby's arm had been wrapping around him like a dozen jungle snakes slithering around a tree branch. The material began devouring his skin from his arm to his harness.

The organic matter caressed his arm into a goop of parasites and transformed his hand into a razor sharp blade the size of a battle axe with spiky metal now growing out of his parasitic arm like an Iguana. The organic matter frenzied his harness into a dark parasitic matter and ignited his chest into an inferno heart. Then his skin stained into black mold. Whatever the fuck Crosby was turning himself into, however the fuck he was doing, it was just a metamorphosis of the monster Crosby dreamed of being.

"Time to die, Max!" growled the demonic Crosby.

The three of us stood there in shock and awe. Still holding our guns up high. Now things were really getting over the top with Crosby morphed into a Universal movie monster. Before we knew it, the half man and half monster began attacking by rampantly swinging his sharp tentacle around. We start shooting at the morphed up Crosby, but our bullets don't put a ding or a dent on the man that one-hundred percent lost all his sense of sanity, reality, and humanity.

"Why can't you understand, Max?!" growled Crosby. "Do you really believe the world is worth saving?!"

"Fall back!" I order to Chloe and Rachel.

We all run away from the Crosbeast and over to a bridge that overpasses the lava pit. When we're on the bridge, Rachel and Chloe make it across, but I don't. The rocky bridge collapses on my feet and I fall through to lower ground on the lava pit. Thank goodness for lower ground or otherwise I would've been cooked into a deep fried chicken. I recover from my fall as Crosby leaps over to my ground away from Chloe and Rachel.

"Max, get to high ground!" warned Chloe.

I do exactly what Chloe tells when I see the higher platform that would take us to the main conduit. There was a ramp that would take me to higher ground and retreat from Crosby. I did just that to run away from Crosbitch. This fight with Crosby in a volcanic wasteland began to remind me of the Anakin and Obi-Wan duel from Revenge of the Sith. And it did. Call me Ms. Master of Film References.

"Natural selection leaves the living stronger and better!" snarled Crosby, still whip lashing his sharp tentacle. "Humans have escaped this winnowing for far too long!"

Once I had the high ground, I couldn't underestimate Crosby's power as he leaped onto the higher platform where my feet were now tangible on using his tentacle axe as a boost. Chloe and Rachel were on the other side and I was left alone between a bloodthirsty Lex Luthor aspirant and a puny hipster turned action heroine. Crosby's flaming heart appeared to be vulnerable but there was no way I could shoot it our with the organic matter infecting him that had been protecting his chest and I had less than all the ammo in the world to attempting shooting through the matter.

Luckily, Rachel was a good enough shot to bring him down. Crosby's inferno chest was more exposed from his back than his front allowing Rachel to get a clear angle from behind.

 _"I got him, Max!"_ shouted Rachel on comm.

Rachel's bullet from her FAMAS rifle penetrated into Crosby's that instantly damaged him, but only for him to be upgraded with more organic matter growing out of him. Crosby had grown another super organic tentacle arm with four organic claws. That bullet to the back was a start, but no where near cigar. The more monster than man himself leaped twenty feet in the air with his tentacle boost to land on Chloe and Rachel's ground. Now he was after the other girls.

"Damn you!" the monster snapped. "War and pestilence wherever you go! Everywhere, nothing but loathsome humans!"

The two girls retreat from the Crosbitch monster as he kept mumbling his self-infliction and shot him couple time just to attain to my location. The could just deal with him on their own. They needed their fire support and I was all they had to be.

 _"Max, shoot that mother fucker, Crosbitch!"_ yelled Chloe on comm.

I aim my pistol to shoot Crosby at long range just to waste what was left of my ammunition but by the two time enough to reach me. The damage by bullets do is minimal, but enough to divert the organic infected superhuman from pursuing my allies. When they got closer to me, they hit a dead from the low ground and needed a way across.

 _"Max, we're close to you but we hit a dead from below,"_ informed Rachel. _"I think there's a big rock from your side that you can use to help us."_

"How am I supposed to get a big rock in the road to help you get across?" I ask.

 _"I don't know, Max!"_ bickered Chloe. _"Your the superhero. I don't care if you have to waste your chronon juice just to pick up the finger! Just do something! Doctor Crosbitch is getting closer as we speak!"_

Chloe was right. It didn't matter if I had to waste my juice to knock the bolder down. Even if I wasn't limitless, it's not like I had a lot of choice either. I rush down to the low ground to get to the boulder. Though it would take the might of the Incredible Hulk or the Thing from Fantastic 4 just to push the boulder over, I had to remember my time blast. I get in front of the boulder close enough to charge my blast power and thrust all the energy I had at it to shove it off the edge and build a large stepping stone for my partners to jump across.

My trustee Arcadian steeds hop across my side with the boulder floating on the lava for them to jump. As soon as they safely jumped across, Crosby was now close enough to be dead ahead in front of our eyes. More furious than ever in his desire and crave for killing the three of us for good. The man's face stared at the three of us with his eyes glowing evil red and face molded from the organic matter.

"The human race requires judgment!" thundered Crosby.

"And your going to judge us?!" I queried. "You get your ideas from Marvel or DC villains?!"

The three of us race back to the upper ground. Upon walking back on the high ground, Crosby takes the shortcut up with his extended tentacles to reach the high ground quicker. Mr. Crosbitch himself lands on his feet with a loud thud and a ferocious attitude.

"Maaax!" roared Crosby.

It was now the three of us with guns against a psychopath twice as psychopathic than Jeffershit with two organic tentacles with a razor battle axe bayonet attached to one of them. It felt fighting a video game boss from Final Fantasy but nothing compared to fighting one in real life. But just like a video game, we needed a strategy to defeat Crosby.

The man himself raised his tentacle high in air to spin it around like a drill. He appeared to be charging up something with his axe arm by spinning it around. That's when we just notice he was about to slice us in half with bayonet arm by swinging it through us like a katana blade.

"Look out!" Chloe warned.

The three of us duck to safety to avoid being diced in half like ham. That was when Crosby's incendiary chest opens for us to shoot it out. The only weak spot we needed for our strategy.

"Max, Chloe, the chest!" Rachel pointed. "It's open! Shoot it!"

I quickly bend to my knee and squat myself to aim down at the chest with my gun. The three of us hammer our bullets into it that instantly drops Crosby down to his legs. He was certainly down, but definitely not out. Crosby's arms were still functional and he instantaneously thrust one of his tentacles to snare me off my feet. Now I was really in for some deep shit.

I can feel the organic matter slither in my skin like a million snakes eating me alive. I blatantly struggle with my bare hands to free myself from the snare. It was as useless as getting permanent glue off your clothes. When Crosby raised me with his grotesquely organic tentacle, he was now using his bayonet to devastatingly drill a hole in me that would kill me simultaneously. I still had my gun in hand and I shot at Crosby a couple times to prevent my fatality. Though I wasn't remotely drilled to death, Crosby tossed me away with his tentacle sending me fumble down to the edge of the narrow lava pit.

After that, Crosby returns to Chloe and Rachel and uses his tentacle to slam it to the ground immobilizing the both of the off their feet. I hang onto the edge with both my sweaty hands for as long I could. I glance down the narrow cliff and the blazing lava twenty feet below. I was now hanging by a thread for dear life while at the mercy of the demonic Crosby who had approached me. Ready to kick me off the edge for I to fall down to my termination. The monster gazes down at my appalling face with him now having the upper hand once more.

"Do you want to live?" asked Crosby.

He kick my one hand off the edge leaving my with only one hand to hang on with. Even harder for me to maintain my grip and prevent my fall to abolition.

"Then beg!" he snapped. "Beg for your life!"

"I'll pass!" I mutter.

The man stopped on my other hand locking it down and crushing it. It hurt like hell and grunt in pain as Crosby was about to break my fingers apart.

"Look at you," he says. "Max Caulfield, the girl ever so tempted by her power to happy endings. You should've died in that dark room. Chloe should've stayed dead when Jefferson killed her. I should've let Rachel stay dead as well. But now you'll all confront a fate much worse than death. It ends here."

"Can't always get what you want, Crosby!" shouted Rachel from behind.

Rachel returned to her feet again, leap onto Crosby's shoulder and stabbed him in his rear chest blaze with her knife. He then knocked her off his shoulder, but bought me enough to climb up the edge with both my hand and all my muscle to get the drop on him myself. I leap onto his back as soon as I'm on solid ground again and punched through his organic matter infesting him just to tear and peel his flaming chest open for us to strike at again.

"Now Rachel!" I order. "Shoot him!"

"I can't without hitting you!" she shouted, getting up again.

"Then hit him by hand! Just do something! Now!"

Rachel charges at Crosby with her army knife in hand and strikes him with her combat dagger multiple times in the blazing chest. I hold the chest open hanging from Crosby's rear body wide enough for Rachel to cut through. She slashes her knife against Crosby's blazing heart with every strike she takes with all her might until she able to deliver a devastating stab through his heat puncturing it in place long enough to render our adversary stupefied.

"I can't loose!" cried Crosby. "Not to you!"

Crosby shook me off his rear struggle to fight through his punctured heart Rachel had caused. Then out of nowhere, Chloe came to the rescue by charging over to Crosby from behind armed with her combat knife, leaped onto Crosby, and furiously jabbed her knife on the rear of his infernal chest. The two exes punctured their knifes together into Crosby's chest like Cupid's arrow through the heart. Up until the point where Crosby lost all of his capability of fighting.

The two of them pulled their knifes out of Crosby's chest releasing themselves away from. The three of us step back as the monster steadily attempts to walk on his feet again. The Crosby demon himself snarls at the three of us like a mad lion wanting to kill his opponent out of abhorrence. His face fueled with revulsion and detestation. Covered in organic mold and redeye pupils evil as sin. That was when at this second the edge he was standing on began to crack. Then eventually rupture off the platform sending Crosby down the deep narrow lava pit.

We all stare down at the pit where Crosby falls. We see him hit the molten lava like French fries dipped into boiling hot oil. His skin and organic matter dipped into incinerating liquid as he hollers in agony from drowning in the lava. He was now going out like the T-1000 from Terminator 2. There is much irony when it comes to film references in my life. Then we see a bridge form itself on our platform to help get across to the conduit that was just dead ahead from where we stood. Now that Crosby was finished, it was time to finish 'this' once and for all.

"The lava will finish him," said Rachel. "Let's destroy that conduit."

"MAAAXXX!!!" a voice thundered from below.

Crosby still wasn't finished. He spontaneously stormed his tentacle over on the structure of the platform we stood and slammed it like a hammer. Causing the support of the platform to tremor and make us almost loose our balance standing up. Crosby was about to take down the hole platform with us to us take us all down with him. We had to do something.

"Max, what do we do?!" bellowed Chloe as she was shaking with us.

"Max, Chloe, use these!" prevailed Rachel.

She got out one of her hand grenades and that when we remember we were carrying some as well. Chloe and I pulled our frag grenades out so the three of us can toss them down to the pit and end the nightmare known as Crosbitch.

"Ready partner?" I asked Chloe.

"Bombs away," she replied.

"Suck on this, Crosby.

"Smile you son of a-"

The three of us pull our pins and toss our frags down the pit. Like Roy Schneider killing Jaws. The grenades descend from our platform and down to where the devil shall be purged. Even now as Crosby futilely persist on our deaths, he lets out once last scream of pain and suffering when the grenades plummet to his sinking feeling and dying presence and go off with a boom. The last enemy that shall be destroyed had been extinguished by an explosion the size of an atom bomb caused by our three grenades. All molten down in the exploded lava. Crosby was dead. The most satisfying villain death of our lives. It was over. It was done. It was finished.

"Hella la vista, baby" said Chloe in her Arnie impression and flipping the bird.

I've been waiting to give Crosby his much deserved death since the first time I ever laid eyes on his true colors. Scoreboard read Super Max and Hella Punk: 2 and Glamorous But Deceiving Mentors: 0. A shot in the dark, but a long struggle paid off. It was time to complete the final phase in saving this world. And it starts by crossing that bridge and destroy the central main conduit to the Elysium tree overshadowing it's aroma.

The three of us slowing proceed across the bridge. Halfway to the key to saving our world from this one. The giant heart shaped conduit was illuminated like a gargantuan Hanukkah Menorah lit by nine burning candles on top. Little did we know there was one card left to play for all of Elysium before even laying one finger on the conduit itself. And this time, it was the true being immortal enough to be a god and not a slave indoctrinated from it's inspiration.

"You persist too long after you're own defeat," a voice started the three of us.

Indubitably so, it was Chronos waiting for our approach. He may have half expected us for Crosby to defeat us before we defeated him. It appear he was here for us to take action into his own hands. The god himself levitates above us. Analyzing our move.

"Come then, traveler," the god of time spoke. "Have your resolution."

We turn our head and aim our guns at Chronos and the god himself pushes us with a telepathic force knocking us down on our faces. Chloe and Rachel were anesthetized from the force. I however, immediately recovered from the push by sliding and crouching on my feet. The god had lowered himself on the bridge and I reluctantly but recklessly made a break for the conduit. Chronos intervened by time stopping me in stasis and telepathically raising me off my feet.

Chronos had received me the same pain from his superpower I experienced the first time with his kinetic powers during my visions. It hurt even more the second time. My body was now aching and throbbing just like the first time under Chronos's power. I can feel me throat asphyxiating from suffocation like Darth Vader's force choke. Only that was a thing of science fiction as this was a science fiction come true. Chronos reels me over the edge of the bridge like a fish on a hook. Prepared to finish me like a fried fish to be cooked down the molten rivers of lava.

"So misguided," said Chronos, indulging his upper hand. "Humanity's imprisonment is a kindness."

The time god forces my body to cripple harder and harder. I could feel organs drying, my bones shattering, and my blood draining. My blood floods through my nostrils again. I squint my eyes and grit my teeth embracing the agony and oppression of a god. That was until some little friend of mine come to rescue a damsel from her imminent doom.

Something majestically rising out of the bridge emerged like angels from heaven. First came my spirit doe, than Chloe's spirit butterfly, than Rachel's spirit blue jay, and then the one and only spirit of Nathan Prescott. The everyday heroes of Elysium here to stop Chronos from condemning my prejudice.

"In that case, you don't mind if we return the favor," said Nathan.

"Your compassion for mankind is misplaced," said Chronos.

"I'm not doing this for mankind. I'm doing this because your the last enemy that shall be destroyed. Nothing more."

Supposedly, Nathan was here to offer some improvisation after all. Even after just telling me he couldn't, he was there to prove his worthiness to me in death. The four spirits shoot themselves over to Chronos to formulate restraining beams bound to his arms and on the bridge. When the god was fully subdued, I'm freed from his kinetic power and stumble on the edge of the bridge until I break my fall via my hands and fingers that were the least bit function after my fight with Crosby. Now it was time to finish this immortal bastard before he broke loose.

I vault over the edge with all my strength I still had left in me to my feet on tangible ground once again. Once I stand on the solid bridge, I take out my last grenade and pull the pin as I charge towards Chronos. The shove the hand grenade through his chest and then he breaks himself from the restraining beams and strikes my down with his bare fist on the ground. He uses his telekinetic power another time to lift me up and throw me down the pit. Not before the grenade goes off in his chest and blows his central part of his body away. Causing him to drop me on the solidified ground and loose his balance standing his own ground.

Chronos is finished off and brought down by tilting off the edge and descending down the deep narrow molten river. I see the god himself plummet into the lava and implode through the molten liquid. I couldn't tell whether he survived the fall or his the thousand degree river for being a god of such, but at least all the matter Chronos was out of sight and mind enough for me to return concentration on breaking the conduit. Chloe and Rachel were still out from the shock of Chronos's force, but there was no time to force them and beg them out of it. Nothing more mattered saving the world and getting the fuck out of this god forsaken dreamscape of a universe.

I was left with an injury on my hip and I had to hold it down with one of my hands. Then use my other hand to shoot the conduit. I point my gun wearily at the conduit and start pullet the trigger to damage. Within five or six rounds, my clip was empty and it was the last of my ammo. Having no choice but to destroy somehow by hand, I did precisely that. I drop my gun on the ground and pull out my army knife to make my last move. I walk to the conduit with my feeble feet and busted waste. Can't imagine how badly Chronos damaged me, but it was bad enough for me to walk like a wounded warrior whose feet walk like Penguin.

When I'm close enough to where the conduit is inches away from my feet, I falter and balance myself with my hands knees for a few seconds. I turn my head upwards to gawk at the enormous beating heart on the giant Avatar sized tree. This was no time resting. There's no rest for the weary in this final struggle in saving my world in turmoil. I blatantly get off the ground, raise my knife like a vanguard, and execute the final blow to the tip of the iceberg by thrusting the knife through the fifteen foot heart like the gladiator with my last breath and a loud holler. After that, there is a boom and a white flash. And then there is silence.

 **Note: I must say, this has been a hell of a chapter for me in writing the final struggle between our heroes and the wrath of Crosby and Chronos. The most exhilaratingly epic climax I could've written for a conclusion the my story. A Mass Effect 2 level of epically satisfying! LOL**

 **Before I go, I posting this late at night after watching the new season premiere of Game of Thrones and is now off to bed. Also, I by no means want to purposefully spoil the last few chapters, but they'll make you tear up a little. But for better reasons possible. There's only two more chapters for me to write in this breathtaking climax I've been waiting to write forever! Sit tight and it'll all be over soon!**

 **Until next time, stay golden!**


	22. An End Once And For All

Chapter 22 An End Once And For All

Chloe

April 24, 2014

12:24 AM

Portland, Oregon

Chrysalis HQ

I lye down on the floor having teleported back to reality again after a long ignominy against Crosby and Chronos. I raise my head up and peel my eyelids to see myself lying on the floor of the project room we appeared to have reappeared ourselves at. I stretch myself off the floor to see Max and Rachel lying down next to me. The two of them were awakening themselves at the same timing as I did.

"Max, Rachel, you alright?" I ask them.

"Chloe," Max moaned, lifting herself up. "What happened? Did we do it? Is it over?"

"We're back in the real world, Max," I answer. "Back where we belong."

"Did we finish it?" asked Rachel, getting of the floor. "Did we stop the end of time?"

When the three off us stand straight up, we could the generator of the Elysium project still active. Still igniting high voltage circuits of electricity energizing and streaming the portal fifty thousand feet above. Impossible. We just destroyed the Elysium conduits and now we return to reality just to see we hadn't done jack squat.

"I don't get it," I said. "We just destroyed the conduits. How can this still be happening?!"

"Who the fuck knows, Chloe," said Rachel. "We probably didn't do jack shit to stop the end of time itself. All we probably did was escape ourselves out of Elysium destroying the conduits and that was it. Beats the hella out of me."

I scoff.

"Perfect," I say. "Now what the fuck do we do?"

Max steps in front of us as Rachel and I bicker. I gazes at the core of the generator where the ESR device was in place that had been the heart and source of Project Elysium itself. However, the ESR the source of more the just the project. Max had just come to the revelation of it too being the key to what we've come to end up until now.

"I know what we have to do," says Max.

"What, Max?" I asked. "What do we have to do?!"

"That's what we have to do," she points out.

Max pointed at the ESR countermeasure device inside the project's core. I still didn't get the memo, though. What did she mean that's what we have to do?

"What does that mean?" I inquired.

"It means that we had it all wrong," Max informed. "The Elysium hearts weren't the key to stopping the fracture in time. It's the ESR that is. The device Crosby always premeditated to creating the time fracture from the get-go. We have to destroy it. But that's part you're not gonna like."

"What do you mean the part I'm not gonna like?"

"The machine is powered by chrononic energy and the ESR is the device giving it all the energy to forge the time fracture. Meaning it can only be destroyed with something or someone with the same energy to combine it all and purge the machine to rupture the time fracture. Meaning that only either Rachel or I will have to use our energy to do so."

"And how would either one of you combine all your time power energy into that machine just end this?"

"All that one of us can do is touch the ESR device in our hands that would combine our powers reshaping the time breaking. But...but-"

"But what?!"

"But the effect is going to be fatal. We may never come back if one of us has our powers intertwining with that machine. Which mean...which means..."

Max couldn't finish her sentence. She let out a tear and covered her face. And I knew exactly why.

"No! Fuck that!" I bluster. "No! No way! No way you are doing this to me now! I won't let you do that!"

"Chloe!" Max snapped. "There is too much more here at stake than you me! The world is ending and everyone else will end with it! There is no easy way out of it this time! This time, I will not sacrifice the many for our single lives!"

"There has to be another way, Max!" I yelp. "There has to be another way!"

"There is no other way! Not like Arcadia Bay. I'm so self-concerned with myself being together with you all the time and I won't let that get in the way of reason! Think about what my parents had to give up and live through. And they did. I've dragged pretty much everyone else into this madness as well and I won't let that be wasted!"

"Don't say that! I won't trade you!"

"You're not trading me! I'm trading myself. Maybe I was destined to do this. Do you even realize how many times I've envisioned this up until now? Chronos has always been telling me that I would be the only one who can stop this and perhaps now the time has come. As much as you mean everything to me, Chloe, everyone else means so much more. So much to each other. I won't become the monster everyone once thought I was again and the only way to do that is by saving the many over the few. I know I've been self-concerned, but for once, I think I should accept this sacrifice for the greater good. Our greater good!"

"Max..."

"Chloe, I told you before that I would die for you in that bathroom had I not indirectly doomed Arcadia Bay for ourselves and I would die for you now while I still can! However I end up after this, no what happens after that, I want you to know that being together these past six months was the best time of my life with you I could've ask for. I really wish we could grow old together, leave Arcadia Bay together, and live happily ever after together the way we always wanted to. I'm sorry we can't make that happen. Not when the world is depending upon me."

"Max, let me do it!" Rachel intervened. "Let me be the one! It should be me! Only me!"

"Hella to the no, Rachel!" I bark. "I'm not loosing you either! I won't loose you again!"

"I'm no longer yours to loose, Chloe! Who would you rather afford to loose over the other? Me or Max? You can't have both, but you don't have to loose both either. Besides, she's the only person who's ever done so much more to make you happy than I ever have. Let me be the one, Chloe. For once in my life I'd like to do something the least bit selfless than I ever done for in my life!"

"Rachel, don't do it. I'm so sorry for being angry with all the time. You deserve better than that!"

"It's not your fault for being angry with me all the time, Chloe. I really wish I could've just spat out the truth when I had the nerve to do so. I really wish we could spend more time together seeing you again just once. And I really wish I wasn't forced to leave you behind when I did. We could've ran away to LA together like we always dreamed. I could've lived the star I always wanted to be. But not all dreams are meant to be. Sometimes it's all just your imagination. All a fairy tale. This is reality and dreams are anything but. It's time we face it together and accept the sacrifices that must be made for the greater aftermath for everyone."

"Rachel..."

"Think about what you have to benefit in sacrificing me, Chloe. You still get to have Max in your life. You can leave Arcadia Bay and live happily ever after together. You can move forward with your lives and grow old together without me. Like you've always wanted to. I won't be doing this just for you. I'd be doing it for the world depending on us. I'd be doing it to make you happy. If I'm the one to do this, just be sure to tell Frank I still love him. Be sure to send Pompidou my love, too. And tell Mom and Dad I loved them too. No matter who is sacrificed, I know it'll be the right decision that must be made."

"Rachel, Max, I can't let you make this choice!"

"No, Chloe. We're the only ones who can."

It was happening again. Only this time, it wasn't me who was about to be sacrificed nor a town of hundreds. It was either one person I've ever so dearly loved for a lifetime or the other. I couldn't believe I've come this far just to tragically trade one love of my life for another. Just to save the world from the end of time itself. As if the defeat of a divine and colossal lunatic like Crosbitch and the god of time wasn't enough effort for us, two of the most important people I couldn't live without now had to die for this.

Even though Rachel would go out more like a hero saving the world than an animal caged in a dark room if she were to be sacrificed, it'd be senseless to loose her again after just coming back into my life just two week earlier. As for Max, of all the people I've lost in Arcadia since my Dad, she's the last person I want to loose after such a long legacy we've grown together. If this was how my history was to end with her, that history could end with me as well. We had to choose. And we had to choose now.

 **X/SQUARE/LM - SACRIFICE MAX**

 **B/CIRCLE/RM - SACRIFICE RACHEL**

"Well, who's it going it be?" I sob.

"Chloe, I'm so, so sorry," whelped Max. "I don't want to do this, but I have to."

"Max, no!" I yelp.

I grab Max by the arm before she even thinks about taking one more stop inside that machine. My death wish would've alas been in vain had she accepted. How could she accept hers so easily? She has series lady balls for leaving me behind like this. How could she? This should be Rachel. Not her.

"Being together the past months," she sobbed. "Was the best farewell gift I could've hoped for. I'm so sorry it has to be this way. You're my hero Chloe. My everyday hero. You're my angel."

The young brunette lunges in front of me to compress her lips against and caress her arms around me. This was it. We were gone with the wind and this was actually happening. This was our last goodbye and there would be no turning back from it this time. We release ourselves from our lips and arms with one final glance face to face before Max's ultimate sacrifice. And so we did.

"I'll always love you!" Max wept with tear down her checks. "Now both you, get the fuck out of here, please! Go while you still can!"

I attempt to stop Max from committing her sacrifice, but Rachel restrains me by the arms to intervene. Her hands grip my arms tighter than duck tape or rope reeling me away from Max as many tears poor down my checks rain water. My eyes prepared to watch the love of my life become no more for saving the world from a global turmoil. This would be the last I lay eyes on my beloved Maxine Caulfield. An end once and for all.

"Max, don't go!" I whale, struggling against Rachel. "Come back to me, please!"

"And Chloe Price," Max began her last words. "Don't you forget about me!"

"MAX!"

And then I witnessed the love of my life sign her death warrant stepping inside that machine to overawe her powers with the ESR to stop the time fracture. I raise my hand and stretch my arm out to her crying for my love to not leave me alone in a hopeless attempt to reach for her and stop her. Rachel was stronger than she appeared retraining me and pulling me back with all the might she had. It was over between Max and I. This is how our love story would end. Our last goodbye. Her last day on Earth.

Max entered the machine's core and took a deep breath before laying her fingers on the countermeasure device. Then without further or do, she pressed her hands on the device that instantaneously shocked and electrocuted her whole body like a lightning rod. The young time traveler herself anguished and screamed in agony as the high voltage electrical shock consumed her chronon particles in her body the began to purge the reactor core like she said. She began to have flashes in her head of every happy moment between us. From when we first met that winter afternoon as tiny children, to our moments when we were kids until the day dad died, to our moments the week we saw each other again, to our moments in Seattle, to our moments chilling with Rachel, to now.

Soon, Rachel and I could see the machine going rampant with bolts of lightning shooting upwards through the machine to the tower's antenna. Because of Max giving her life for everyone else's including mine, the purge sequence was actually working. It really was. Max's blood was now bleeding out of her nostrils and eyes sockets with her death blow imminent. As the girl herself let out her last dying gasp, the purge sequence eventually set off an explosion that blew the machine away and sent Rachel and I flying off our feet away from it. When the purge destroyed the Elysium machine, what had to be done was done.

The portal in the sky stopped streaming and dispersed from the clouds. Then the antenna on the tower began to collapse and break from the supports. The explosion from the machine had cause the antenna to burst from the bottom and descend off the tower. When the antenna was fully dismounted from the peak of the tower, it was now descending forty thousand feet from above and down below. The antenna itself crash into the street below the building as it landed like a hotdog. The wreckage the antenna caused destroyed and blocked the road it landing on and even destroyed some vehicles on the street as well.

Then there was silence. The tip of the tower was destroyed, no more shooting stars bombarding the city, no more hole in the sky bringing about the end of time itself. Without the cost of the life of Max Caulfield, there would not be lives of others still standing. That there wasn't.

Rachel

April 24, 2014

12:32 AM

Portland, Oregon

Chrysalis HQ

After recovering ourselves from the explosion, there was nothing left but dust, ash, smoke, wreckage, and little fire on top. Chloe and I cough a little bit of the smoke we inhale in the room. There was no remote way Max would've survived that explosion form within and inside that machine. A sacrifice is a sacrifice and she chose herself over me. Max was a girl Chloe knew almost her entire life and I was girl Chloe only knew for a few years after Max's departure from the bay. How could she do this? This should've been me. Desperate leaving a man and his dog that I had still cared about behind, they'd honor my life for anything. Better than after faking my death from my dark room OD.

Chloe and I search through the wreckage caused by the explosion to find Max's body. Treading through ash, fire, and some electrical sparks from the destroyed Elysium project. Max did not just do this. This was supposed to be me. I could care less if I die twice, I'd rather die sacrificing my life for the collective safety of everyone living on this planet with the people I love included than die like a cockroach in a dark room. Even after everything the star-crossed gay couple had to live for, this is what Max does to end it all? By now Chloe must be severely heartbroken from yet another petty abandonment that has end all her abandonment to suffer for. Can't imagine being Chloe right now at this tragic moment.

And so we find her. Chloe's beloved friend since she was nine years old lying down lifelessly with her body bruised by electrical burns and cut with internal bleeding. The two us stood there in shock to see Chloe's love for eternity end in the most tragically and utmost devastatingly way possible. Max was dead. Gone but not forgotten. I cover my mouth with the palm of my hand in horror witnessing the death of Chloe's precious little hipster.

"Maaax!" Chloe screamed.

Chloe raced for her dead girlfriend and I keep up with her. Her face is flooded with tears and patched with redness. My ex bends down next to Max's lifeless body and begs for her to be alive. I too bend down next to her body to help Chloe with her loss. Jesus almighty is Chloe atrociously devastated by this huge loss of her lover. Dammit, Max. What were you thinking? My body should be the one lying down dead in this mass wreckage. Not yours.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no," whaled Chloe. "Nooo! Why, Max?! Why?! Why did you do it?! You shouldn't have done this! What the fuck is wrong with this world?! The fuck is wrong with it?! Why can't I be happy?! Why?!"

The sorrowful punk covers her face with her gloved hands and continues sobbing harder than when she found my fabricated carcass buried six feet below the earth in an Arcadian junkyard. I felt bad for poor Chloe for what has just happened to poor Max. She deserved better than throwing her life away just for the survival of this global catastrophe. Chloe deserved better than a immense meltdown watching Max die seeing her seared corpse lye down on the ground inert of her life. There was nothing more we could do for our fallen Arcadian comrade now. All we could do now was mourn Chloe's beloved hippy, say our goodbye's, and accept her sacrifice and fate. Or could we?

I remembered my resurrection powers that I showed to Chloe and Max back at the Price Residence when I revived the bird that hit the wall. Maybe could use it to revive Max. I lay my hands down on Max's body and take a deep breath to prepare my resurrection power. I shut my eyes and press my fingers against her skin to resurge the girl that was Chloe's everything. Chloe herself took notice of what I was doing and held her tears for one second.

"R-Rachel...w-what are you doing?" Chloe moped, tears still running down.

My resurgence power released streams of energy into Max's body to heal all her cuts and bruises. Then my power brushes off the explosive residue on her skin and reboots all her vitals she needed to survive in order to be brought back. Her heart rate, her blood pressure, her brain and spine functions, and everything else. My resurging power wasn't pleasant when it came to pushing daises. I grit my teeth still tempting to let my chronon particles reboot Max's vitals like a paramedic with a deliberator. Once I've released as many chronons as I could to deliberate Max, I deactivate my power and exhale all my breath I taken just to recover. Then we both gape at Max's to see if my power worked.

Both our fingers were crossed. I had just attempted to revive a girl killed from a fatal explosion and now we were supposed to expect her to come back to life from the influence of chronon particles. We keep staring down at Max's unconscious face. Chloe holds her breath heavily in her deepest hope for Max to be alive. So did I. We wait for a few more seconds for my power to kick straight in. Holding every breath we take with our greatest anticipation for her to come back from the dead. There was no such luck. Her face was more dead than alive. She was as good as dead already. Or was she?

Before Chloe could return to her extreme mental breakdown, Max at last opens her eyes wider than stars and gasps her first breath inhaling all the air she could with her second life. We couldn't believe what we've witnessed before our eyes. I actually did it. I brought Max back from the dead. Just as well as Chrysalis once did for me. Chloe was ecstatic for what just happened. Of all the many times Chloe has cheated death, now she was even with Max.

"Max, you're alive!" Chloe snapped.

She hugged her girlfriend tighter than a grizzly bear in vast relief Max was alive. Chloe still cries, but this time of joy than sorrow. I endow myself a smile for the greatest achievement I've ever accomplished for Chloe yet. Now I just may have rewarded my trust and loyalty back to her again. Maybe.

"I thought I lost you!" Chloe hissed. "Don't ever do this to me again!"

"H-how..." Max moaned, still recovering from her false sacrifice. "How am I still alive?"

I give her a pat on the shoulder signifying her answer.

"If it were up to me, I would've stayed dead at this moment," I said to her.

"I-I'm sorry, Chloe," she whelped. "I'm sorry I had to do this to you. I'm so sorry it had to be this way. I'm so, so sorry."

"Don't you dare be sorry," said Chloe. "You're more lucky than you've ever been if not for Rachel bringing you back. Why would you choose something like this? Why?"

"I've said this before and I won't say it again," replied Max. "I would die for you, Chloe. I really would. I've brought you back to life many times. Now we're even."

We hear a helicopter from the above the room in the open sky. Which had definitely been David and Frank's chopper. I pick up one of my flares, light it up into a green spark, and wave it around to signal our extraction point. Like Nicholas Cage in The Rock. Chloe helps her resurrected girlfriend up on her feet and caresses her arm around Max's shoulder to hold her steady. David rolls down a rope ladder for us to board the chopper. We climb the ladder single file so we can all board safely. Then we had departed from Chrysalis HQ.

The three of us sat in the passenger hold of the helicopter with Frank and David and Cage taking the cockpit. We see the smoke from the top of the Chrysalis tower from when we destroyed the Elysium generator off in the distance as we fly over the outskirts of Portland. As well as smoke from some other buildings deteriorated from this attack that destroyed half this city. At least there were no more flaming stars in the sky and no more Fallen and Neo-Chrys mercs on the ground. Max's life was not in vain. Though Max lived anyhow.

 **Obstacles - Syd Matters**

I sit across from Max and Chloe in the chopper. Max lies her head down on Chloe's lap resting herself after the hell we've all been through. Chloe brushes Max's dark hair like a puppy as she rest her eyes on her girlfriends lap. We smile lightly at each other for a bit including Max who opens her eyes for a bit to do so. Knowing it was all over for us and that we would all make it out in one piece. David turns his head back to us whiling flying to give us a warm smile. Frank does the same. We would now be flying back to the safezone in Beaverton safely. This is how it ends. It was over. Indeed. Finally.

Max

April 24, 2014

6:50 AM

Beaverton, Oregon

Safezone

More and more I find myself wondering if it's all worth fighting for. For a future without fear. It was indeed worth it. At least Chloe is grateful to be alive now that this is her fate. A fate I made for herself. Like John Connor always said in the Terminator franchise. This future is not set. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves. That fate was decided six months ago during a Blackwell tragedy that ceased to exit. I made the fate to let Chloe live long enough for a future without fear, without sorrow, without pity. And so I did. My reward in deciding that fate was prolonging our better tomorrow we've always asked for since the day William was withdrawn from this world. Now Chloe's returned the favor with the help of Rachel. Without them, there would be no tomorrow. Not at all.

I rest on a bunk bead inside a tent at the safezone in Beaverton. I wake after a six hour's sleep from a long strong and barely surviving a fatal explosion only thanks to Rachel's revival power. I could hear soldiers and civvies outside my tent wandering around the encampment. I had come out of this fight with a few scars and bruises, but a medic had stitched them up before I rested. No one came out of this fight without repercussions. Not even me. I walk outside my tight to find my Arcadian comrades.

Outside I see many civilians being treated by caretakers and paramedics. Those who were wounded or needed looking after for those who had just lost someone to this terrorist attack. Soldiers who were just coming out of this battle alive and morning the loss of their friendly patriots. Wounded soldiers carried on stretchers. Dead soldiers carried in body bags. A lot of good people, both soldiers and citizens, had died in this quantum terror tragedy. At least no one I cared about joined the obituaries. I had hoped to find them somewhere in this sanctuary camp.

The morning sun was liberal to everyone just barely making themselves out of this attack alive. I roam through the crowd in search of Chloe and the others. I eventually find them all at the debriefing area with Admiral Penske and Secretary Brown. Along with Mayor Hales, Senator O'Donohue, Lieutenant Mason, and Captain Cage. I catch Chloe's eye by the debriefing table and she runs towards me to hug me happy to see I'm awake and alive. Rachel, David, and Frank give me a pat on the shoulder for their gladness of seeing me still inhaling air. But they had not been the only people proud to see me alive and well.

On such short notice, it just so happened that my parents as well as Joyce had arrived at the safezone to see everyone safe and sound. First Joyce covers her hand over her mouth in great relief to see her daughter and husband alive and well. Chloe and Joyce hugged one another happy to see each other again. David hugged his wife in rejoice to see her as well. Then my parents spotted me. My mother cups her face with her hand to see her daughter who had barely survived the fight alone. I hug both my mother and father in great respite. I stare at the both of them in both grief and bliss.

I explain to my parents the truth about Crosby and who he really was up to all along. Sparing no detail of what was happening until now. From when I was kidnapped with Chloe by Neo-Chrys to our last struggle with Crosby. Chloe, David, and I had already explained to Joyce about the thing with Crosby during her argument with David the other night. She already had an idea of what was happening before my parents.

After we were finished talking, Chloe and I took a walk over to the fence of the safezone and sat on a porch. Staring off into the beautiful sunrise. We could some buildings spreading smoke in the air throughout the city from a great distance. But the destruction of Portland doesn't stop us from admiring the splendor of great sunset after the great battle of Portland. The way we enjoy the tranquility of gazing the bay from the lighthouse.

I turn my head to Chloe when sitting down. She still look shell shocked after my sacrificial stunt I pulled. I agreed I should've let Rachel give her life away instead, but it was either her or me. I chose me and in doing I almost let Chloe live through a huge loss greater than her father's. The only reason I live is because of the resurrection power Rachel had. It mattered not. I'm alive and I survived this fight with my partner in crime. All that mattered was that Chloe's partner in time lives. That's all that mattered.

When a door closes, a window opens. And when a window closes, a door opens. One has just closed today. Now a new one has opened. Chloe turns her head to me and we put on light smiles on our faces. I was never going to die on her. I was never leaving her. I could care less if I had just died and came back. Chloe has cheated death more times than I ever have. Even more than Rachel had. That makes the three of us even. I was to be Chloe love of her life from this day until our last. We were to be star-crossed lovers till the end of time.

Before turning back to the sunrise, we close ourselves in and kiss each other once more. I love Chloe and she loves me, too. There was nothing more on this planet that would keep us from that. We were the best that's ever happened to each other. From this day forward, our struggle against a time deteriorating fantasy was over. With Crosby out of our picture, Ranikov out of the sun, and Chronos trapped in hell, there was no one left to stand in the way of our great destiny that awaits us. No one left but ourselves to keep us at bay. We are together as one. As whole. As family.

 **Note: You guys and gals all thought I was killing off the sacred icon of all Life is Strange didn't you? LOL. Well, I've actually been thinking of a way to make the ending of this episode as emotional as I possibly could and I did. By now I'm probably making you all cry over a big fake out death in this story. It makes me want to cry even more seeing this story come to it's final closure with a more bittersweet twist to it. *sniffs***

 **So yeah, just to remind everyone that Rachel had shown Max and Chloe her ability to resurrect the dead via a dead bird that hit a window back in episode two. Just so you all remember. Just to explain my writing. Also want to apologize for this chapter taking a few more days than usual. Really didn't want to half-ass the emotion in this chapter and I was going to post this last night until I had to do a chore for my Grandpa.**

 **Well folks, we've made it this far and it's been a long journey. But there's one chapter left for me to complete the climax before this is all over. It all ends with my last chapter as my epilogue chapter to end it all. I appreciate everyone who's been following my story until the very end. You've all been very supportive with this story and your support means the world to me.**

 **Until next time, stay tuned and golden!**

 **P.S. Special fan service song goes to the one, the only, 'Obstacles' by Syd Matters!**


	23. The First Day of the Rest of Our Lives

**And so our journey ends here my friends. I'm tearing up the closer our climax has come. After a year's hard work of a story about love and friendship, losses and comebacks, struggle and conflict, triumph and victory, filler and fluff; and hope and fear, it all comes down to this as I never imagined it would be. As I've said before, I never imagined making it this far, but thanks to you and everyone else who's been supporting and hanging onto this story till the end of time as I already have. Without you or anyone else, I would've never have made it this far.**

 **You've all been kind supporters to me on this sight and showed me all your love and friendship. You made me smile and laugh like I haven't done in years. Although, this chapter of Max's life may be done, her story still doesn't end here. For this isn't the last you've seen of her. As I've mentioned before, I still have plans for a sequel (season three) to this story as well a prequel mini-series to this story as well. The prequel will be a story centered around Rachel before the events of this story and what happened to her after her resurrection by Chrysalis. Of course, I'm writing a sequel to this story that would conclude Max's story as a trilogy. Using the first LIS as 'A New Hope', this story as 'The Empire Strikes Back', and my sequel as 'Return of the Jedi' for all three set pieces to conclude Max's story as a whole if you get what I mean. I know that Before the Storm will be used as 'Rogue One'. Enough said.**

 **From this moment forward, enjoy the last chapter to the last episode of the rest of my story as I keep moving forward to develop my future endeavors to both write my prequel for Rachel and sequel for Max's final chapter in her time traveling fantasy. You readers all mean the world to me and I will never forget the incredible journey we've shared to together! Time for us to all embrace the tears of happiness as I go forth till the end of time and say goodbye to my season two fan fiction! Thanks for reading! It's been real!**

 **Enjoy my last chapter! Until we meet again my fellow readers, STAY GOLDEN!**

Chapter 23 The First Day of the Rest of Our Lives

Chloe

June 5th, 2014

8:35 AM

Arcadia Bay, Oregon

Arcadia Bay Cemetery

 **Six weeks later...**

It had been six weeks since the battle of Portland. Despite the struggle that bread the destruction of a great city, the people had time to honor the memory of both citizens and soldiers lost to the tragedy as well as to rebuild the once great city it once was. As the weeks passed by after all the loose ends we tied, survivors of the Portland adversity had risen up to let their symbol of Oregon rise again, Max had graduated from Blackwell, it today was the day we would be leaving Arcadia Bay together to begin our new life in Portland. Although a majority of the city was destroyed, half the city was put back to together again enough for Max to start her college education at the University of Portland. How our new life begins.

Shortly after the attack on Portland, Derrick Crosby was presumed dead; even Max, Rachel, and I confirmed his death as the three of us killed him together, Alexei Ranikov's body was found at Chrysalis HQ and confirmed dead, and Caroline Prescott; mother of Kristine and Nathan and husband of Sean, took over as new CEO for the company of Chrysalis in favor of the Prescott Foundation. With everyone starting over at Chrysalis and Portland itself, just like Arcadia Bay, it was time Max and I start a better beginning as well.

Before we all left for Portland; Max, Rachel, and I took one last visit to the Arcadia Cemetery to honor the memory and pay my respect to my late father William Price. I brought a bouquet of flowers to place besides his tombstone. I remember six years ago when Mom and I said our last goodbyes to him at his funeral. I was fourteen. I stood there behind his casket to be buried six feet under the earth weeping the tears down my face next to my mother. Max and her parents had been at the funeral as well to return their supportiveness and respect they showed my father. I recall it as if it were only yesterday.

Hard to believe that almost two months ago I saw my Dad again serving as a spirit in the heaven of Elysium. And here am, deferring his life one last time to confirm the promise I made to him before fading back to reality. Max and Rachel walk behind me to support my last greatest honor I must receive to my father's grave. That I do. I approach my Dad's tomb and stare at the letters written on his epitaph as I lay down the flowers in front. I can memorize the words carved on the tomb by the back of my hand. Best of all, my name didn't have to be carved on this stone additionally. Thanks to Max's choice six months then.

 **William Henry Price**

 **1970 - 2008**

 **A beloved father, brother, and husband.**

"It's time for me to take responsibility," I say to my beloved deceased father.

Max and Rachel come closer behind me as I stand directly in front of my daddy's grave. Equally offering their generosity for my long time loss. I did not stand alone to allow my old wounds to nurse.

"I won't let you down, Daddy," I continue. "Not anymore. I promise. I love you, Dad. God bless you. I'll always be with you. You'll always be missed. You'll always be my father. Forever."

"He loved you, Chloe," said Max. "William was a good man. And a good father. He was a hero. Even in death, nothing will ever stop him from being your true Dad. Not today, not tomorrow, not in a millennia."

"That's never been more lucid to me than it has now, Max," I said. "I've spent six years living in this past. I'm all done living in the past. I know what I have to do."

"I wish I could've known your Dad, Chloe," said Rachel. "You've always spoke of him like he was the man of your dreams. I only got to know of him with those pictures I had seen him in that I once found. He's in a better place now."

"I won't let you die for nothing, Daddy," I said. "If you get thwarted, c'est la vie."

After paying our respects to my late father, we turn our heads to see two other young women paying their respects to a beloved human being they've lost as well. It was Kristine Prescott and Victoria Chase setting down flowers besides the tomb of Nathan Prescott. Saying our last goodbyes to William, we decide to drop in where they the stand.

Nathan's grave was only a few feet away from my Dad's. Kristine and Victoria stood next to one another with their hands crossed. Though Nathan was never kindest person to me in the end, he did start off as a strong friend to me in the beginning. Ironically speaking, a boy who could've killed me the day I wouldn't be ends up being the one buried underground. Kris and Victoria see us approaching them. They let us drop in at our own courtesies.

"I hope we're not disturbing," said Max.

Kris shook her head.

"Not at all," she replied.

We can see the words scripted on the epitaph of the tomb.

 **Nathan Joshua Prescott**

 **1995 - 2013**

 **A beloved son, brother, and heir to family.**

"Your brother was a great kid," Max said to Kris. "He was often troubled, but he had his light side. If he were alive today, he'd be proud of the three of us for the justice we were able to serve to your family."

"I know, Max," replied Kris. "You did a great thing for my family. That's the best gratitude I can offer. You have my thanks."

I was beginning to think Kristine had known about Crosby's deception from the beginning. Before she warned us back at the dinner that it wasn't over yet. If she did and never told us, I couldn't blame her. The Prescotts themselves had been under the mercy of Neo-Chrysalis for years and they probably weren't allowed to use Crosby's name. If so, they'd probably do away with them. I refused to ask Kris if she knew since it might be impolite of me to ask. Especially when honoring the life of her brother.

"Nathan deserved a longer life than what he was given," said Victoria. "If he were alive, he not only would have graduated strong at Blackwell like everyone else, but he would've fulfilled his true destiny for his bloodline. That better he deserved."

"Good people deserve better, Victoria," said Max. "You just can't always receive better or choose better. It's the law of nature."

"I know we were never the best friend to each other, Vic," said Rachel. "But Nathan was always the best friend to me. When he helped Jefferson drug and abduct me, it was only at the mercy of those terrorist. It was never his intent. That's what made him a better person."

"It's been an honor, Kris," said Max. "Take care. You too, Victoria."

"Certainly," said Kris.

Max

June 5th, 2014

11:13 AM

Arcadia Bay, Oregon

Blackwell Academy

I'm back in my dorm packing everything up in boxes to get ready to leave for my new home in Portland and ready to begin my college education at the U of P in another month or two. Pretty much everyone at Blackwell packs their things to leave for college. I pack everything from my clothes, toothbrush, laptop, Polaroid collection, guitar, posters, etc, into boxes. I would be able load my couch and bed set into Chloe's truck when she gets here. As I'm cleaning out my dorm room, Warren steps inside to check on me.

"Hey, Max," he says. "You've been busy."

"Yeah, Warren," I say. "I have. What's up?"

"I barely just got done packing my shit up for Colorado is what's up. What about you?"

"What's it to you?"

"Looks to me you still have some unpacking to do. It's a long way to Portland. It'll be a longer ride to Denver for me and Brooke. Speaking of Portland, you and Chloe still able to go even after that terrorist attack that the two of you got yourselves killed in two months ago?"

"Some of the freeways that were closed down due to the attack are still under construction, but have reopened. The apartment Chloe and I bought and rented was untouched from the attack. So yeah, we're still going. Lucky us."

"Well, I just like to say, it's been wonderful knowing you this year. And I've got to say, it's been a crazy year having you here at Blackwell. From Kate on the roof to the Chrysalis shooting, we've had some close calls you and I."

"Yeah, we sure have. Rescuing Kate on the roof was one task, surviving through dozen of armed Chrysalis troops with automatic weapons pretty much sealed the deal. It's been a pretty shit year at Blackwell. I'm glad it's ended."

Warren give a pat on the shoulder before he leaves the room.

"Good luck out there, Max. We've both finished this year strong and we can both welcome ourselves to whole new beginning."

"As you were, Warren. As you were."

I give Warren one last hug before he left the room. Even though we may not see each other for some time again, we would keep in touch.

"It was nice knowing you, Max," said Warren. "Brooke and I will be in touch. It's been real."

"Thanks for the movie last Friday, Warren," I said. "I'll call you when I need you. You do the same."

"Your welcome, Max. I'll see you around."

Warren had invited us all to a movie night shortly after our graduation day. Rachel made Warren the offer to have it at her lodge and invite me, Chloe, Kate, and everyone else to watch some prime time movies together after the graduation. Warren left the room and then I decided to go inside Kate's dorm to say my goodbyes to her. She saw me come inside and let me in.

"Hi, Kate," I said. "How's it going?"

"Hey, Max," said Kate. "I'm fine."

Kate appeared to be wrapping up all her packing. Almost everything in her dorm had been emptied out and placed in boxes. All her books, bibles, crucifixes, and even cups and pots from her tea table were packed in her moving boxes. I wondered what she'd be up to after graduating from Blackwell.

"So, what's your story graduating straight out of Blackwell?" I ask.

"My family and I moving to Idaho to go on a Christian pilgrimage," she said. "That's where they'll be training me to be a nun."

"Your going on a Christian pilgrimage to Idaho and becoming a nun? What for?"

"It's a tradition Christians have for going on a journey in search of moral or spiritual significance. We go on a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to our beliefs and faith. Something I've been looking forward to since before graduation. I've been accepted into a Christian university in Boise where I'd be educated."

"That's sounds excited. Anything else besides your pilgrimage and being a nun?"

"It's the place where I want to begin my career as an author. Remember that book about bullying I planned to write? That would be my best opportunity as any."

"You know what, Kate, you and I have had some pretty close calls this year. From that time on the roof, to the storm, to the shooting, to the incident at the expo, only to finally end this chapter on the most satisfactory note possible. All those close calls just to meet a happy ending at last."

Kate smiled and chuckled.

"Could've said it better myself, Max," she said. "We're survivors. We're fighters. I'm alive because of you. I retuned the favor by leading the Not A Terrorist campaign with Victoria that inspired your victory in Arcadia Bay Versus Max Caulfield. Then you fight for life in that terrorist attack in Portland to save the day. We really are everyday heroes. We make a good team."

"That's why they call me Super Max," I said. "They'll be calling me that till the end of time."

We endow ourselves a warm smile and hug each other as our last goodbye. We share a few more last words before I left Kate's dorm.

"It was nice knowing you, Kate," I said. "I'm glad I met you and I'm glad we got to make it this far together."

"Likewise, Max," replied Kate. "I'll see you on the other side. God bless you. And god be praised."

I cared about Kate very much as a friend. And I always have since we first met during the beginning of senior year. I wanted to say my goodbyes to Victoria who had returned from the cemetery and back to her dorm room. Like everyone else, she finished up her packing with boxes in her room to carry her things. I walk inside her dorm to say hi to her one last time as she lets me in.

"Hey, Victoria," I said. "How's it going?"

"Hey, Max," she said. "I'm well. What about you?"

"If you don't mind me saying, about Nathan, I just want to say they he'd be proud of what you've done till now. The Everyday Heroes contest, the Not A Terrorist campaign, your the best we've ever had at Blackwell. You really were."

"I know, Max. Until now, I've made sure Nathan's death wasn't for nothing. For the Prescotts, for Blackwell, for me. And since the day we started fucking our selfies, we've actually been the best friends we could have."

We smile and chuckle.

"True, true," I said. "So what is it that you'll be doing with yourselfie outside the world of Blackwell and Arcadia?"

"I was excepted into Berkeley. Same place Taylor and Courtney were accepted to. As well as Dana and Juliet. I have plans to start a sorority there at Berkeley. The only place I'll ever be myselfie."

"Exciting. Well, it been fun knowing ourselfies. Take care Victoria. Your gonna need it."

"Stay strong out there, Max. Your gonna need it."

Chloe

June 5th, 2014

12:39 PM

Arcadia Bay, Oregon

Lighthouse

I sit down on the porch like Forest Gump sitting on his porch on top of the cliff besides the ocean blue surfacing the bay amidst the summer winnow and afternoon sun. Where we carved our names on the wooden stump as kids. Overlooking my beautiful home one last time before saying goodbye. This view always made me endure the silence of glee. The serene contentment of what my home always meant to me. All I ever wanted was to obtain one last gaze at the sun before leaving it all behind.

I had hoped Max would stop by and find me here, but she didn't. Not until the moment she finally does and walk up the hill to where I sat. When she does find me and approach me, she sits down next to me on the porch. The usual spot we sit down when we come here to embrace our admiration.

"I was worried you wouldn't come," I said. "Thought I might get one last good look of the sun before leaving the bay for good."

"I'm never leaving you hanging on this day of all days overlooking our home one last time before leaving it all behind," said Max. "Not at all."

We sit there in a moment of silence. Remembering the memories we've shared since the day we first laid eyes on one another. Since the day our life began. Since the very day that made our lives into what they are now.

"You think Rachel still cares about you?" Max asked. "The way I do?"

"Maybe," I answer. "I don't know how, but I know she does."

"She gave us a chance. I did. Ever since that day on this very cliffside, I never imagined what our lives would be like after that. And here we are now, living our lives like we never imagined. Rachel made the right decision to come for us. Without her, we wouldn't be sitting here. I made the right decision of accepting an inevitability I once thought was mine, but wasn't. Without me, we would not prolong our destiny we wished to be."

"The decision was made a long time ago. Before any of us knew each other. When we were just little kids running around in the middle of winter as strangers. It was like love at first sight. And now we mean everything to each other. I was in trouble by a delinquent but misunderstood boy. Little did I know, you there when it happened and you saved me from a less than admirable fate. Because of you, my fate is now the one I deserve."

"I've always made the rightful decisions to keep you alive, Chloe. I'll never stop making those decisions, whatsoever. Not this time. Not next time. Not never. Today we no longer know each other as strangers, but as family. Because you chose to be there for me that winter when we were little kids. In return, I chose to be there for you when you were in danger. Though I never knew at first sight who that girl was assaulted in that bathroom, I was glad to have saved her. If I had done otherwise, she'd be six feet buried beneath the earth with her daddy. Not anymore."

"Because you chose to be there for me that day, Max. A long time ago. That was the decision that changed everything. It started with both of us - and we just grew. All of us. To sacrifice for each other, to suffer, to understand, to grieve, to give, to love, to live, to fight for each other. You made the decision, Max. I was just following your lead. Till the end of time."

The two of us turn to each other and turn our frowns upward to smile. Sharing this unforgettable moment together. In our moment of triumph. In this hour of greatest. In this reality of satisfactory. Together, this was our true destiny. Our deepest ambition that has come. Made possible by every righteous decision made for each other. With out those decisions, everything that occurred from that week up until now would have never. I once told Max that no matter what she chose, I knew she would make the right decision. The only right decision was the one she had chosen. She made no mistake. This is how our life goes on. This is our new era. This is the first day of the rest of our lives.

* * *

After our last sit down at the lighthouse, we arrive back at my house to finish pack everything in my room. I had already boxed and packed everything from my posters to clothes. Toothbrush included. My room was nothing more than clear walls and cardboard boxes now as well as an empty closet. All that was left was my desktop and bed set that had to be taken out and loaded into our moving trailer hooked to my truck. I've said my goodbyes to my Dad under his grave, said my goodbyes to the town, now I just needed to say my goodbyes to Mom and David as well as my room I've lived in since I was less then a year old.

As soon as I walk into my room to load up all the boxes carrying my belongings, I noticed an envelop on my bed sheet with my name marked in pen on it. I open the envelop pull out a letter inside. I read the letter written in pencil when I do. I had already guessed who it was from.

 **Chloe,**

 **I'm glad I could get this to you before you and Max could leave town. I don't like the idea of not saying goodbye to you before leaving again the second time in over a year. We all need family. Max is yours, Joyce is yours, David is yours, and William is yours. I've been on my own since I was fifteen. Though my parents were living with me in town at the time being, we both know how that was. I never really fit in with them as much as you. Because of you know what. My faith's in people I suppose. Individuals per se. And I'm happy to say for the most part they haven't let me down. Which is why I can't let them down either. There are some locks that can be replaced and others that can't. I know I hurt you, Chloe. I guess I thought by not telling you the truth about me, I was sparing you. But I was obviously and most blatantly sparing myself and I'm sorry. Hopefully now you can understand.**

 **I wish I never left you. I wish I hadn't been kidnapped and drugged to death by Jefferson and Nathan to that dark room. I really do. The one thing that broke our bond in the past year. But if that never happened, I would've neither have been brought to life by Chrysalis to be taught and trained the skill and wisdom to resolve Max's conflict with her slander case or hinder Crosby's scheme to let the world die so another could live. I only hated the fact that Chrysalis made me let you live with the fact that I had to play dead for six months after coming back. I once told you don't be surprised if one day I'm just out of here. And so that day came. I'm only doing what I believe in and that's all any of us can do. That's all any of us should.**

 **Frank and I are going to begin our new lives together in LA like we've planned. I wish Max and yourself the best of good luck with your new lives. You two deserve a normal life away from this sham. So do we. Although frankly, I still love Frank, I still love you too. As a friend. The best friend I could have and one of the only people in Arcadia Bay I've relied upon to make me smile and laugh like I've never done before. Your truly the best person that's ever occurred to me. So no matter what, I promise you if you need me, I'll be there. I'll drop by at your place in time to say our goodbyes so this time I would leave with a word.**

 **\- Rachel**

Max

June 5th, 2014

4:35 PM

Arcadia Bay, Oregon

Price Residence

David helps Chloe and I load up everything in our moving trailer hooked to Chloe's truck parked on the driveway. The heaviest things we had to haul was Chloe's bed set and desktop. Once those were loaded, we load up the last few of the boxes until there were only three more boxes left. Before we could load the last few boxes carrying on belongings, David had something to say to both of us before we left.

"Hey hold up a minute, Chloe," said David. "You too, Max."

"You okay?" I ask him.

"Yeah. Yeah, I uh - just got something that needs saying is all."

"Alright," replied Chloe. "What is it?"

"Look, I um - do you remember when I told you that I had a lousy father and a lousy childhood? By the time I reached forty, I figured I wasn't going to have a child of my own. Hell, I never wanted one. What the hell do I know about raising a kid? Then I met a nice lady at a dinner who just lost her husband and her only daughter being the only family she had left. Eventually, you came barreling into my life and little did I know you were to become the same dirty little misfit and delinquent I once was at your age."

"Look, you don't have to-"

"No, I know. Just listen, I do. I know I've said this before and now I'm saying it again, but hear me out. I have made a lot of mistakes, Chloe. A lot. Not just as a father, but my whole life. From living with my drunken Dad, to serving in the army, to now."

Chloe scoffed.

"And well, um, I am not a perfect man," David finished.

"Okay, David," said Chloe. "I don't think we need to-"

"Ah, stop," said David. "Just stop being a wise ass for one second. Here's the thing Chloe, we don't get to choose how we start in life. Real greatness, is what you do with the hand your dealt. Ever since the day I found Max in your room, I always believed it to be her being the reason you and I have been better people until now. And until now, I've learned a bit more from the two of you than you ever did from me."

"And what have you learned from us than what we have learned from you?" I ask.

"I learned that there's a bigger a world out there when the stakes get higher and higher," he replied. "That we sometimes don't get to choose our destiny, but instead destiny gets to choose us. When I first learned about your mystical time traveling powers, Max, I only then realized your true colors. Your best influence on my only step-daughter. You Chloe, haven't called me step-this or step-that or step-anything in months and I appreciate that. And when you two took it upon yourselves to risk your lives stopping a madman like Crosby and bunch of blood thirsty extremist, I underestimated the vigor of a war hero you secretly had. I want you two to carry on that vigor for as long as you live and breathe."

"We will, David," I said. "We may just be young adults too young to for letting our lives for something that far, but we're both troopers at heart. We're never to young or too old for that."

"I get it now, David," said Chloe. "I always have. Even though I failed to appreciate you as a father in the beginning, I appreciate you as one in the end. I wasn't old enough to understand then, I am now. I'm glad your my father now. Without you, we wouldn't have survived Portland. We really wouldn't."

When David is done talking, Joyce steps outside to say her last goodbyes to us. We turn to where she walks out the front door to give us a big smile and hug.

"Max, Chloe," chirped Joyce.

"Mom," peeped Chloe.

Both mother and daughter hug each other joyfully.

"Oh, Chloe, you grow up so fast," said Joyce. "I really don't want to let you go. I always want to be with you."

"I'll always be with you, Mom," said Chloe. "Even when I'm not here, you're the best and most supportive mother I've ever had in my whole life. I'm never letting you go. And your not letting me go. Ever."

Then I stepped over to Joyce to give her some sugar as well. I hug and caress my arms around her the way Chloe does.

"Oh, Max," she said. "I'm going to miss you too."

"I'll miss you too, Joyce," I tell her. "You really have been the kindest motherly figure I've had in Arcadia Bay in so long."

"I never thought I'd get to see the two of you grow up to this day," said Joyce. "If only William could see both of you right now, I know he'd be proud."

"He already is, Mom," said Chloe. "By now, he's probably looking down on us all from Heaven. Proud to see his daughter living happily ever after in the dawn of her new life with Max in the dawn of a new era. And he's thanking David for treating his daughter well. You know he is."

"Chloe's right, Joyce," I said. "In death, we've already made him proud as he is. I know we have."

Joyce began to roll a tear down her cheek in ecstasy.

"I remember the first time your father and I brought you home," Joyce told her daughter. "Twenty years ago. Back when you were nothing else but an adorable little critter. A beautiful baby girl. And now that baby girl has grown up to be a fully grown woman ready to take on the world by storm with her girlfriend. I even found your baby shoes and baby pictures in the house somewhere when we cleaned out your room. You girls behave yourselves now. I know you won't let me down. Not this time."

"We won't, Mom," said Chloe. "We're never letting you down, ever. I love you, Mom. I always will."

"I love you too, sweetie," said Joyce. "I always have."

At that moment, Frank's RV at arrived at the place in time before left. It was parked by the curb. Frank must've been dropping Rachel off to stop by, wish us both of good luck, and say goodbye. The trailer couple themselves hopped to join us. Chloe and I walk towards the street to speak to Rachel and Frank. David and Joyce leave us for moment to let us talk to them.

"Hey," said Rachel.

"Hey," said Chloe.

"Hey," I said.

"Going somewhere?" asked Chloe.

"Maybe," replied Rachel. "By now you must've read the letter I left for you in your room. All I have left to say is that Frank and I will now be living and breathing in LA as I've always dreamed to do. And this time, no more bullshit."

"Yeah," said Chloe. "It's alright. And this time, you won't be needing good old Jackie D. to hold on to your dreams since he's dead now. You're a hero, Rachel. Everyone's everyday hero."

Chloe and Rachel hug one another. Their heads positioned side by side and arms wrapped over their backs. As friends who have moved on from their grieving and forgiven their troubles. Something they both needed since Rachel's lies.

"No matter how many times you've lied to my face," said Chloe. "No matter how much you've failed as a friend, I couldn't have asked for anything more than for you to come back to me and save Max and I from our trouble. I owe you that much."

"Without you, Rachel," I said. "I wouldn't still be waking up next to Chloe every morning. We're eternally grateful."

Rachel gave us both a warm smile.

"I guess this is goodbye then," she said. "This is what we all get for the choices we make. I'm glad I met you, Max. And I'm glad we could spend more time together than I actually thought we could. And I'm glad we're still friends, Chloe. I really am."

"Me too, Rachel," said Chloe. "Ever since the day you returned into my life, I always thought I was dreaming. After all the crucial things you've done for us, I'm glad you came back from dead. Though you could've died in Portland, I'm really glad you stayed alive so Max would. You're my hero, Rachel. Just as well as Max is."

"You've thanked me for that over and over, Chloe. All I can say is a thousand your welcomes."

"We done here, Rachel?" asked Frank, standing by the RV. "It's a two day drive from here to LA. Let's not drag this on any further than it needs to. No offense. Take your time."

"Well, I better get going," said Rachel. "Frank and I are getting ourselves a nice new home in Malibu near LA. We're taking Pompidou with us. I wish you two the best of luck in Portland. Or what's left of it. You know what I mean."

"Take care, Rachel," I said. "We won't forget what you've done. It's been an experience knowing you. Have fun in Los Angeles."

"I'll be in touch," she said. "I'll tell you one thing, Chloe. If you get thwarted, c'est la vie."

Chloe gave her ex-girlfriend a bright smile for mentioning the Price family code her Dad used to say as the trailer couple were reentering their mobile vehicle. Before they could, Chloe had something to say to Frank before leaving also.

"Hey, Frank," she began. "About Rachel's bracelet, it's just as much as yours as it is hers. I never apologized for disrespecting your gift. You've earned it. I also believe Max still owes you big time for that day in the junkyard about you know what."

"Apology accepted, both of ya," said Frank. "I really mean that, madam. You bet on that."

Then Rachel and Frank stepped back inside their caravan and left. This time, Chloe had more closure for herself before Rachel had left Arcadia Bay for good. We could see their mobile ride drive down Chloe's street until it turns right and out of sight. The proud couple themselves were off to the land of opportunity itself. We finished loading up all that we needed in the trailer and it was time for us to say our final goodbyes to David and Joyce before stepping inside the truck and leaving. Chloe's parents hug us both to finish saying our goodbyes.

 **Space Oddity - Lady Heroine**

"Once again, you girls behave yourselves out there," said Joyce. "Be a good college girl now, Max. And you Chloe, be good for her. The both of you are gonna need it."

"Your demand is our pleasure," I say to her.

"I'm proud of you, Chloe. You and Max both. Stand strong and clear, you two," said David. "That's a direct order."

"Affirmative, David," said Chloe. "Duly noted. Your direct order is our pleasure."

The Madsen couple stand hand in hand watching our departure to opportunity. Chloe's steps inside the driver's seat and I step inside the often and most usual passenger seat. This would be our last time we'd see the house of our childhood. As soon as Chloe starts the engine, we turn our heads towards the windows to have good to Chloe's parents. They wave at us back with smiles on their lips and then we were off. Pulling the truck out of the driveway, hulling the moving trailer, and down through Cedar Avenue into the sunset. That was the last we would see of Chloe's home.

Eventually, were had driven the truck and hauled the trailer near off the city limits. Chloe stops the truck at an intersection with a stop sign. She turns to me after checking the other streets for other cars. I suppose she was hoping I had something to say before leaving our home town of Arcadia Bay for good. And I so I said something.

"Chloe, it feels like we lived a thousand adventures over the months. I'd do anything just to wake up next to you. You're my hero, Chloe. I love you."

"You're my hero too, Max. I love you too. This is the first day of the rest of our lives. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves. No matter what happens, I'll always be with you."

"Forever."

With one last smile at each other and us holding hands, Chloe steps on the gas and we were now driving into the sunset, passing the city limits sign, and leaving Arcadia Bay for the last time. And this time, we would leave together. The way we had always imagined. The way it always should've been. The way it was meant to be. This was the first day of the rest of our lives. In this hour of closure. Together and forever. As family. As whole. As one. This has been our story after the storm. Our normal life had began with all our fantasy of time travel in the past now.

Maybe.

 **End of Episode 6!**

 **Life is Strange After the Storm**

 **Episode 6 Frozen Forest**

 **Voice Cast**

 **Max Caulfield... ...Hannah Telle**

 **Chloe Price... ...Ashly Burch**

 **Rachel Amber... ...Erin Yvette**

 **Warren Graham... ...Carlos Luna**

 **Nathan Prescott... ...Nik Shriner**

 **Kate Marsh... ...Dayeanne Hutton**

 **Victoria Chase... ...Dani Knights**

 **Joyce Price... ...Cissy Jones**

 **David Madsen... ...Don McManus**

 **Frank Bowers... ...Daniel Bonjour**

 **Mark Jefferson... ...Derek Phillips**

 **Derrick Crosby... ...Peter Jessop**

 **Cpt. Clayton Cage... ...Chris Fries**

 **Kristine Prescott... ...Laura Bailey**

 **Sabian Sorenson... ...Dwight Schultz**

 **Lt. Jeb Mason... ...Charles Parnell**

 **Amanda Lynch... ...Emily O'Brien**

 **Cayce Foley... ...Christopher Emerson**

 **Secretary Brown... ...Claudia Christian**

 **Riley O'Donohue... ...Philip Anthony-Rodriguez**

 **Adm. Gavin Penske... ...Ron Perlman**

 **Alexei Ranikov... ...Keyth Farley**

 **William Price... ...Joe Ochman**

 **Chronos... ...Keith Szarabajka**

 **Written and Edited by**

 **WickDaLine**

 **Based on the Characters by**

 **Christian Divine**

 **Music by**

 **Jonathan Morali**

A woman dressed in a dark blazer, skirt, and high heels sat on a chair in a dark room in front of a fire place. Staring at the fire burning through the wood in the furnace. Enjoying a moment of piece and silence alone in the murky room itself. That was until a man had stepped inside to inform the lady in the chair of intelligence about a the young time traveler in Arcadia Bay.

"Lady Joanna," the man began. "Max Caulfield did everything we never expected. More than we actually thought. First she takes down Mark Jefferson and now Derrick Crosby. Humanity's place in the Heard of Whales has become stronger than ever. And still it's not enough."

"Max Caulfield may have stopped both Jefferson and Crosby," said the woman named Joanna. "But she still remains our worst threat."

"But she had done all that to cripple Neo-Chrysalis. Neo-Chrysalis, my lady. We both know they were only a supplementary asset to our cause. The end of time could still happen again."

"And it's up to us to stop that."

"Neo-Chrysalis will never trust us again. They'll never accept our system like they once had. Even after what your family and this society has accomplished. But Max, they'll follow her. They now see her as a hero and a sacred icon. But she's just one young woman. If we loose this heard, the Prescotts might well follow."

"Then see to it that she is stopped once and for all. May the heard guide us all."

 **Soundtrack**

 **Karma - Jamie N. Commons**

 **The Last Thing On My Mind - Clarence White**

 **Obstacles - Syd Matters**

 **Space Oddity - Lady Heroine**

 **Special Thanks**

 **Dontnod**

 **Square Enix**

 **Christian Divine**

 **Hannah Telle**

 **Ashly Burch**

 **Michel Koch**

 **Luc Baghadoust**

 **Xemtlenc**

 **tur1823**

 **SummerStormWar**

 **and you!**

 **Disclaimer**

 **I don't own anything. All rights and property go to Square Enix and Dontnod Entertainment. Thank you.**

A gauntlet made with heavy alloy on a stand had lied down in an illusive chamber. Waiting to be a used as it hadn't in centuries in the making. Then a sinister figure wearing a cloak, titanium armor, and Greek horned militant helmet approached the ancient gauntlet known as the eternity gauntlet. Once the figure placed his hand on the handle, the gauntlet sparked into a light of eternal energy. Then figure grasped the gauntlet to observe to energy he had dispersed into it.

This was no ordinary figure. This was another immortal being holding the eternity gauntlet in this hand prepared to finish what the god of time Chronos had started. This immortal was the god of war.

"Fine, I'll do it myself," said Ares, the god of war.

 **Max's story will continue...**


	24. Author's Note

Author's Note

 **In the beginning...**

What do you call a story that meets Twin Peeks, Gone Home, Quantum Break, Uncharted, Call of Duty, and Beyond Two Souls combined? None other than my Life is Strange Season 2 fan fiction of course. But where do I begin to discuss the making of this story? Let's get started with my overall experience.

The idea of this story all began after playing the phenomenal teen drama known as Life is Strange. A tour de fort teen love story about two adventurous young women named Max Caulfield and Chloe Price. Max who is a lone and minutiae hipster wanting to be something bigger in her mundane. Chloe who is a naive and self-righteous rebel who had tragically lost her beloved father as a younger girl and is left alone finding her missing friend named Rachel. Two of them who were once childhood friends before their five year desertion and return to themselves five years later to continue what they started. When I first played the game, I didn't imagine it being a big deal to me at first. The game had opened strong with a terrifying mystery of an oversized twister ready to strike a town that would massacre hundreds. From that moment until the end, I was intrigued. The game changed my life so much, I already wanted a sequel.

At the time of having finished all five episodes, Quantum Break was out. Another game about time travel that had been announced long before Life is Strange only with an entirely different premise and genre that has you play as young man named Jack Joyce who is confronted with a conflict of a fracture in time that would destroy the continuum of time and space itself and must do what it takes to stop it at any cost. Quantum Break in my opinion is a very divisive, underrated, and overlooked Xbox One title that I personally enjoyed myself. Though I did think they could've made the live action junctions into something you play in a game than watch in a TV series. Oh well.

After playing Quantum Break, there were a lot of aspects in that game that had indeed inspired this story. In fact, I even took the liberty into playing Quantum Break before writing this story because I knew before I even played it that there were things from Quantum Break that I could try and work with Life is Strange. The fictional organization of Monarch Solutions from that game is what inspired the Chrysalis Corporation in this story. In order for me to sit here and explain the entirety of the making in this story, let's sit down, take seat, and talk about this by explaining the experience episode by episode. Let us begin.

 **Episode 1: Resurgence**

The story opens strong with episode one. Max and Chloe depart from the bay after a devastating choice for their own self-interest. When deciding how this story would continue from the original Life is Strange, I apparently had the choice of beginning it with the sacrifice Chloe or Arcadia Bay ending. And I chose the Arcadia ending to be my candidate ending as the more straight forward route. Though I could've chosen to work my way around with the Chloe ending, I felt the ending I selected was the more preferable ending to work with for my story. Not only was continuing from that route felt like an easier approach, but it felt it was more preferable to set up my conflict in the story. My conflict would stand regardless which ending I had chosen. The best middle ground ending for me to chose from.

The first episode is pretty basic. It's set in the right tone, pacing, and atmosphere the first season had. You have the Pricefield couple traveling to Seattle to visit the Caulfields, making time together at a shopping mall, taking a walk in the park, playing Crash Bandicoot on the original PlayStation together at the Caulfield home like Nate and Elena in Uncharted 4, and then the Caulfields and Prices/Madsens having a special dinner for a family gathering. Between those scenarios, we see Max's power slowly evolve into new powers. Having more than just rewind powers. Having powers similar to Quantum Break's.

When I thought about Max having extra powers, I wasn't attempting to plagiarize Jack's powers from Quantum Break, I sort of thought about adding more variety to her powers. She could already rewind time around her and travel through time via photo memories, but it can sort of feel repetitive gameplay wise. If this story were a game, new powers could definitely add more variety to Max's supernatural power. Say what you can about her power being linked to Jack Joyce's, they're not. This story was never going to have a crossover connection with Quantum Break and still isn't. This story was solely it's own universe taking inspiration from another.

Then there's Max having visions stranger than the ones related to the storm. The visions of the shadow figure, who we now know as Chronos the god of time. Warning Max that the world is ending soon and it'll be ten times worse than Arcadia Bay's end. One of my readers have argued that a god of time doesn't sustain the mystery of Max's powers and rather breaks it. Allow me to clarify that are some mysteries can't go unsolved. My goal throughout this story was to create an inclusion for the origins of Max's power and every other plot hole left in the dark to be brought into the light. Something Max had been looking for the answer to since the day her powers first manifested. And I did just that starting with episode two.

 **Episode 2: Time is Power**

And so our real journey begins with episode two. Six months have past, Arcadia Bay has been rebuilt from the ashes of the storm, the relationship of the Pricefield couple grows onward, and Max still struggles to determine the mystery behind her evolving powers and the end of time. Then she is greeted to a man named Derrick Crosby. The CEO and head of a corporation named Chrysalis all inspired by Monarch from Quantum Break. A company building a better world by discovering the unknown, ensuing the hypocrisy of time exploitation, and finding solutions to keep the time space continuum at bay just like Monarch. Max then learns there are people that know about the certainty of her power as Crosby educates Max what she has experienced over the months.

When coming up with the fictional corporation of Chrysalis, I not only named it after the first Life is Strange episode ever, but the title itself is a minor reference to the butterfly effect. Monarch from Quantum Break comes from being named after the monarch butterfly which is another reference to the butterfly effect. My reference to the butterfly effect myth comes from a caterpillar forging itself into a cocoon called a chrysalis and then eventually hatching itself into a butterfly. That's what the corporation is named after in that reference to the butterfly effect.

Now let's talk about how I started the conflict and rising action for this story. A corrupt and power hungry politician named Sean Prescott, father of the late Nathan Prescott, threatens Max's life to never use her powers that are believed by Chrysalis to have destroyed the town killing hundreds just as Max presumed herself. Otherwise, she would need to face the severe consequences of the choice she made to keep Chloe alive. When coming up with the premise of this story, I was imagining to myself what if Max was punished for the choice she made in the real world? Meaning there would need to be people in the right place with the right knowledge to punish her for what they thought she had done. Then her punishment would be Chrysalis declaring her an outlaw and criminal to Arcadia Bay. You get the whole idea having read the story.

Then there's the big action set piece I set up in episode two. An army of Chrysalis troopers form a raid on Blackwell to assassinate or apprehend Max Caulfield by order of Sean Prescott. A school shooting worse than the Columbine shootimg. You have Max fighting for her life from dozens of soldiers that want her dead, an Uncharted-esque chase sequence from a turret truck tempting to shoot Chloe's truck down to a motorcycle chase that has Max hammering the truck down with a machine pistol. A great action set piece all taken from Uncharted 4 A Thief's End.

I cannot lie to you all but say that I had taken a major risk with the action sequence in that episode. Like James Cameron making his sequel Alien action originated. Considering the substance and atmosphere of Life is Strange was more memorable for it's mystery and drama and not action and thrills, I was never sure how readers would react to the chapter titled "The Fugitive" which featured the big action ride. Though it is one of my favorite chapters and it did appeal to some readers, it was merely straight up over the top for Life is Strange principles. But what was done was done. That's all I can say.

Then we have the return of the legendary Rachel Amber herself. Where should I start with her? Let's just say this was yet another risk I took with this story bringing Rachel back. Before I began writing this story, I always thought about how I would bring her back. It was sad to see her go in season one, felt like a missed opportunity to have her alive to make a trio for our heroes in the first game. Like Michael, Trevor, and Franklin from Grand Theft Auto. Say what you please about her dead. The real reason I brought her back was not only in the name of fan service, but also experimenting how much of an asset she could be to the narrative of this fiction as well as experimenting and developing chemistry between the three. And then I give her the same powers Max has with a mind tricking power she used to manipulate people at Blackwell to become the wannabe people said she was in my work of fiction.

Of course, there's the flashbacks in the episode that are a complete retread of the Last of Us Left Behind DLC. The scenes with Ellie and Riley in Left Behind were some inspiring references I chose to write for all the fluff in the episode. Considering not having flashbacks of Rachel in season one, I took the liberty of writing flashbacks to make up for the opportunity as another work of fan service. We're already getting a prequel titled Before the Storm as a special fan service prequel to make due for the majority of Chloe and Rachel's arc. I was just doing my part of writing my own little arc set six months before the original game at the time of writing. Overall, Rachel's the best character I've come to write in this story to prove how much potential in chemistry she has as an Amberpricefield trio.

And finally, there's the exposition on the origins of Max's power. In my theory, the blue butterfly in the bathroom was the one to give her the power from the beginning. Crosby in the story explains to Max that not only is the butterfly spirit the source of her powers, but also the source of the chronon cells implanted in her blood and genes that engineers her powers. Which also causes the deteriorating side of effects of her power such as the nose bleeds. Another thing that sort of breaks but solves the mystery of Max's power. You can say it's like how the Star Wars prequels brought midichlorians as the energy source for the force. When in the original trilogy, the force is explained as an energy surrounding and penetrating living organisms.

Say what you will about midichlorians and chronons in comparison. The source of Max's power has always been open for interpretation and always will. In my vision, chronons are the source of time forging powers in the universe I've created. Then again, aspects taken from Quantum Break needless to say. It's my verse and imagination and that's what fan fiction is made of. And then again, breaking yet solving the mystery of Max's power.

 **Episode 3: Quantum Crisis**

And so the shit hits the fan with episode three. Max is taken prisoner. Chloe is on house arrest (sort of) for helping Max escape from Chrysalis authorities, and Rachel is out in hiding from Arcadia Bay having been a fugitive outlaw as well. It is then up to Chloe and Rachel to bring justice to Max's injustice and put an end to Sean Prescott's oppression of Martial Law in Arcadia reigned by Chrysalis.

We all know Sean plays an antagonistic role in the story. He does everything to the town that Donald Trump would do. The Trump of the bay. Overrun Arcadia Bay and Blackwell with Chrysalis security forces, start a government conspiracy to thwart quantum terrorism from the town, and exploit martial law in Arcadia Bay. The tyrannical regime of Sean Prescott himself. From the beginning before episode three all started, though Sean was still an antagonist in the story, I had set him up as a red herring just like his son was set up in season one. Just like Jefferson from season one, Crosby is revealed to be the true antagonist of this story. That'll be a topic we can discuss later.

Since the first Life is Strange was known for it's mysterious narrative, I figured the way Chloe and Rachel break into the Prescott Estate guarded by Sean private security and Chrysalis security during his campaign reception was a way for them to play private detective to uncover the person behind Max's setup. Just like Max and Chloe playing CSI Arcadia Bay to find Rachel in the first game. They use stealth to waltz past and take out the guards and break into the mansion Mission Impossible style. Then they're first piece of mystery is a dark room dossier that the Prescotts kept secret. It was a start for writing some mystery in this story. By the time this story was ending, it was beginning to lack some of the mystery the first game had. Another topic we can discuss later on.

When Rachel is trying to put the pieces together of what her and Chloe found at the Estate, they uncover some untold history about the Prescotts. How their lineage begins with the third crusade. The family name once being called Loomis and finding an ancient religion and cult named the Order of Saint Loomis. A sacred cult that practices the myth of time exploitation and worship a deity named Chronos the god of time. Then there's the Prescotts having a secret relationship with the discovery of time exploitation sometime before the first world war had broken out. Dr. Ezra Prescott being the man discovering it all and the one to have the power to manipulate time in the early nineteen hundreds. Just like Max Caulfield. My way of creating my own history and lore for both the Prescott family legacy and the power of time control relationship with human history in of itself. This episode has more of the details of course.

Then there's segments where Crosby introduces his company and the rest of his corporate affairs to Max. Then she reveals her powers to her parents when the Chrysalis science team run test on her powers. There's really not much for me to say for this portion of the episode. I pretty much enjoyed writing the first half of the episode as opposed to the second. Then we get the last chapter of the episode titled "The Moment of Truth" where it ends on a cliffhanger to episode four. When making up plans for this story, I originally tried to cram it down to five episodes like season one. In doing so, I would have tried to have written Max's trial in the episode and end it with her heroic speech on the stand which ended up at the end of episode four. At the time of writing, I felt like I had written enough for just one episode. And so I ended up extending the story to six episodes as it is now.

 **Episode 4: Time Trial**

Episode four I find to be a more relatable episode. The first season had a great share of relatability. From losing a parent to and automobile wreck, to teen suicides, to school bullying, to tragic family issues, you name 'em. What makes this episode relatable is not only the court case dedicated to this episode, but also the protest campaign Victoria and Kate start at Blackwell and expanding it to the whole town. As well as the riots that occur in Arcadia Bay revolting against the Prescott regime and the Chrysalis oppression. The Blackwell shooting and martial law on Arcadia Bay was the cause and effect of the protest, controversy, and rioting.

What makes it all relatable is how in real life there had been not just school shootings, but also shootings of black lives and other lives lost to police oppression. Ones that trigger protest and riots to start a movement uprising against the shootings to let the people's voices be heard. Ones that easily relate to the scenarios happening in this episode. Chrysalis starts a school shooting to hunt down a student like Bambi's mother for a crime not committed by the student herself and the students of Blackwell as well as Arcadia Bay riot to give power to themselves against the terror and hope for piece.

Of course, there's Max trial itself. A court case in session between two sides of prosecution and defense. You have Sean's lawsuit's, Karen and Burke, as Max's prosecutors with Crosby and Chloe at her defense. While Karen pours cold rain on Max's parade, Crosby attempts to justify the means of Max's choice to keep Chloe alive and their relationship at bay. One that changed their lives and the lives of many. If you watch movies like A Few Good Men or Philadelphia that are superbly relatable movies to special court cases, than the court case in this episode is no different. An episode with an easily relatable premise can easily make up for this story. It should go without saying, but I liked Max's speech at the end in the chapter "Forget the Horror Here". A chapter named after a lyric in Spanish Sahara by Foals.

I almost forgot, the Flashbacks of Rachel and Chloe at the Vortex Club party where Rachel had been drugged. Had this story only been five episodes long, I wouldn't have added this. When deciding to extend this story into six episode, I took the best opportunity possible adding backstory for Rachel that would start from more fluff of partying at the Vortex party to the event where Rachel is drugged. The Vortex party backstory is some of my favorite scenes in the episode. Love it all.

Another thing I kind of wanted to talk about was Max entering Elysium through visions. First there's the construction of Project Elysium through a time lapse Max enters (same kind she went through in episode one at the Caulfield residence), then there's her entering the frozen forest in the world of Elysium. Something like the infraworld from Beyond Two Souls. Then we get out reintroduction to Chronos the god of time. Say what you will the character himself fringing the mystery of Max's power, coming up this character made me think of how there could be an antagonist wanted to end time for his world to intertwine with reality. When creating the god-like character of Chronos to play another antagonistic role, I made him out to be a mix of Harbinger from Mass Effect vocal wise and the Didact from Halo physical wise.

Back in season one in Polarized, Nathan tells Max in his last message that everyone used him. In the episode Time Trial I wrote, the spirit of Nathan explains to Max in the frozen forest that it was more than Jefferson using him. That his family had been at the mercy of terrorist and forced him to do things he refused to do. There's also his backstory I came up with of how he had been chronon sensitive of seeing visions of the future like the storm as read in episode five. There were unused audio files for season one that had Nathan shout out "The storm is coming!" Signifying that Dontnod had intentions to have Nathan know that the storm was coming soon also. Now you know why Nathan acted the way he did in the first game. A plot hole I had given closure to in this story.

 **Episode 5: Project Elysium**

By the time we reach episode five, we get to the exposition where Sean Prescott had secretly worked with a quantum terrorist organ named Neo-Chrysalis. A European extremist group that counters and extorts military grade and science grade hardware to counter their adversaries. Chloe and Warren discover that Sean Prescott had surreptitiously been taking bribery and extortion from the Neo-Chrysalis leader Alexei Ranikov.

As for the side villain Ranikov, there really wasn't to much planned for the character. Knowing he's only an antagonist with supplementary writing time, I've only written him as an expendable baddie and lieutenant to Sean Prescott. Then later, Derrick Crosby. As well as a war criminal to Chrysalis and terrorist leader to terrorist syndicate of Neo-Chrysalis. As said before, Sean was always a villain in this story, but was still the red herring considering he and the rest of the family including Nathan had been pawned at the mercy of the terrorist for years. Though Sean is still punished for setting up Max, Crosby had been the true antagonist. I shouldn't talk too much about Crosby now until the end. I'll stop right here for now.

On the mystery aspect, we have Chloe, Rachel, and Warren tracking down Prescott and Ranikov to a steel foundry with an underground fallout shelter hidden below. When the three enter the Deep Six fallout bunker where a terrorist super weapon was developed to create the storm and set up Max. When making this decision of revealing the truth beyond the storm, it was just simply an idea that had to be made. Unsure of whether tI'd be good writing or not.

One of my readers have said that I could be more subtle than Project Cyclone becoming the eye of the storm. I shall clarify that subtlety is never the true benefactor for terrorist and it never will be. Also, hence Max sacrificed Chloe over Arcadia Bay, Nathan wouldn't have been in town to prepare for the coming terror. And the set up would be compromised and delayed by Nathan's confinement for Chloe and Rachel's murder.

After busting the corrupt Senator Prescott, Max wins her case and celebrates at Two Whales. I really enjoyed writing all the fluff in Max's celebration party. Favorite part of the episode. Chloe and Rachel invite all of Max's friends, Rachel has a reunion with some of her Blackwell buddies who knew her, Samuel educates Max and her girlfriend about their spirit creatures, Warren tells a made up story to Principle Wells (most hilarious part I could've written), a dance off to Wake Me Up by Avicii, and a group picture to end it all.

Speaking of Warren's made up story about him blow away a bunch of Neo-Chrys mercs with an APC tank, it was a to develop his sense of comedic relief. I've always seen Warren as a sort of comedic character and I took the best opportunity possible to write his false story in the way I imagined his comic nature. I take the next opportunity in a one shot I wrote that features his comic relief also. Read chapter five of Arcadian One Shots to see what I wrote.

Then I decided to add even more fluff with the Amberpricefield gang at the Kettle Lake Lodge in the chapter "RR". With some nice callbacks from the original. Rachel dancing on the couch mosh pitting with Chloe and Max with a puff of weed and an otter in the water swimming in Kettle Lake by the pier. Rachel dancing and stoking up on the couch just like Chloe from Polarized and the trio swimming with their bodies floating on the water like the Pricefield couple in Chaos Theory. You all get what I mean. Yet another favorite part of this episode. Together, the three have bought so much into this story that without them, this story would be nothing. Don't get me wrong, there are the three utmost praise worthy characters we've all come to love and three that I've brought together in my art of fiction. Amberpricefield be praised.

I can't forget to mention the dark room flashbacks with Rachel. Adding the flashbacks in episode four was a way to lead up to the flashbacks in episode five. I don't trust we'll get Rachel's dark room arc in Before the Storm, but all I can say is that I believe I've done a decent job with the dark room flash backs in this episode. A decent job of Jefferson captivating Rachel's innocence just like with Max in season one. And please, don't get me started on that one scene in the dark room where Jefferson did you know what to Rachel in front of Nathan. You know which scene I'm speaking about.

I really don't have too much to say about the last act of the episode other than it being my favorite part of the episode next to the Two Whales party. With a few references from Uncharted 4 and COD Black Ops 2. Even made one of my readers replay Uncharted 4 in doing so. Then I reveal my biggest twist I've come to write revealing the true antagonist of the story just like Jefferson. Crosby was the one behind the storm and everything else in season one. Everything I had set up for the conflict is at last exposed in the finale.

 **Episode 6: Frozen Forest**

And finally, we have episode six. My most ambitious episode yet. I'd like to note that I had been setting up the conflict in this story since episode one. Like the storm in the first season, I foreshadow the end of time in the first episode of this story. Every finale should attempt to be the best in a season if not the best episode in a series. I won't say that I hated Polarized, but I will say that it somewhat turned out to be an overhyped and disappointing episode to some. Myself included. My problem with Polarized was that one; Chloe was ninety percent absent from the episode since she was killed at the end of Dark Room and wasn't saved until the last act of the season one finale, two; the first act was loaded with too much slow paced filler, three; I suppose I wasn't a fan of the dark room premise, four; the most debatably controversial endings we got for the conclusion of season one. I won't start a three hour discussion on that topic, so don't make me.

I want to point out that from the very get-go, I wanted to write this finale as a faster paced and action packed episode. Some of my readers have disagreed with Life is Strange having action in it. I'd like to point out that I wasn't purposefully attempting to write the finale to attract or divide different audiences, I wrote the finale to let everything I've set up since episode to pay off after a year's long work. You can argue that an action heavy premise doesn't always make up for a finale, but I will say that it can get the audience more excited and invested into the finale in that instance depending on the premise alone. Frozen Forest is undeniably faster paced than Polarized and that's how I like my finales. Puts me on an adrenaline for how every finale should feel. If that's not your cup of tea, more power to you. Needless to say, Chloe has more substantial writing time in Frozen Forest than Polarized.

Think of this whole story as Forest Gump where Forest tells his whole story from child to his present day. How it starts from his childhood, to teenhood, to adulthood, to his time in Vietnam, to his social life and fishing life with Lieutenant Dan, to getting back together with Jenny, to running across the country, to raising his kid. How Forest's story goes on the loop with multiple genres from a family picture, to a teen drama, to a war film, to an urban drama, to what it becomes in the end. Mixed genres with good writing. One problem I sort of like to address is decided what kind of story my story wants to be. Does it want to be Call of Duty? Does it want to be Uncharted? Does it want to be Phoenix Wright? (referring to Max's trial) Does it want to be Quantum Break? I'll say that this story is what it wants or needs to be and it wants to be Life is Strange no matter how much the vibe would feel like other games. Bottom line, Life is Strange is Life is Strange. I've said it my fellow readers. That I have. No hypocrisy intended.

This may go without saying, but until now, surely no one can see much of the Life is Strange crew as stereotypical action heroes or heroines. I would prefer the description feasible action heroes or heroines. Allow me to clarify that you don't just become heroes. You work your way and build up to it. Think of Max as Sarah Connor from the Terminator films. How machines were after her and her son John to thwart the human victory of the war against Skynet. She had to train herself to be a tougher human being to protect her son from dangers of a machine traveling in time to kill her son so that he could lead humanity in the coming war. Max had experienced visions of the end of time since Seattle and knew it was coming true as the storm did and knew it would be ten times worse than the Arcadia storm and knew it would be war. And so she had to train herself to be prepared. The other two leads, Chloe and Rachel, were going to be part of the fight as well. Meaning the three daughters of Arcadia had to be stronger people and needed a different persona if they were to put a stop from time ending the world. Max had to be her own mentor to prepare for the fight, Rachel was sort of Chloe's mentor when they were playing Law Order: Arcadia Bay to help her fight, and Chrysalis was Rachel's mentor to be strong enough for such a fight. That'll all be explained in my prequel to this story.

Max had gone from a lonesome but optimistic hipster, to a bitter heroine. Chloe went from a gullible and undisciplined rebel to a vigilant punk. Rachel went from a wannabe super star to a Mary Sue vigilante. For all the right reasons possible to make up for their new persona in certain atmospheres in this story. In all fairness, that is plenty said.

If you're to ask about Frank wearing the power armor and equipping himself with a rocket launcher, Mark 19, and chain gun, I just want to say it was another opportunity for comedic relief. I always saw Frank having a sense comedic nature just like Warren. Although they I executed it was a bit over the top, it was sort of the right idea to make Frank a more funny character than he was in season one. There's no other words to it.

There's also the Fallen demons I had written in this episode, which were Chronos's minions, were descendants of Elysium reanimated into demonic forms. Think of them as white walkers from Game of Thrones or the forerunners from Halo. One of my readers described them as the monsters from DOOM. They start off as humans that once roamed the Earth and then transformed into Fallen zombies that serve Chronos. The Fallen themselves are an advanced race from the world of Elysium who serve Chronos as the guardians of Elysium. There's a larger historical lore with the Fallen which I might explain in the sequel. No time to explain it right now.

Now for the antagonist in this story. Derrick Crosby is easily the most memorable character and villain I could've created for this story. I had done a decent job developing the character from a supportive father figure to a villainous stereotype. Though Mark Jefferson was never one of my favorite video game villains, the twist for both him and Crosby is that they're first introduced as benign beings to eventually revealing their true colors to Max. Both twist were a little predictable to me. With the Crosby twist as predictable to some readers. A sort of Heavy Rain esque twist. Season one used Nathan as a red herring to distract the audience into antagonizing him until the Jefferson twist was exposed. The same can be said for Sean and Crosby.

I'll also mention that while developing Crosby, I wanted to create a better arc than what Jefferson was given. To me, captivating the innocence and insomnia of young females isn't truly the best arc. It's a little generic if you ask me. Crosby's arc, however, can be far superior. Though taking over the world can be an overwhelming cliche, colliding two worlds to start an afterlife for everyone to survive time's end is something a little better. The character creation for Crosby from start to finish made him out to be a hybrid of Nathan Dawkins from Beyond Two Souls, Paul Serene from Quantum Break, and Albert Wesker from Resident Evil. Pointless to say, Jefferson looked a lot like Gordon Freeman from Half Life.

I'd be lying if I said Crosby wasn't over the top and wasn't a carbon copy Wesker clone. But in my eyes, Crosby was pretty hella amazeballs for a villain. A much more formidable foe for Max which can't be measured to a bonafide, but generic pedophile like Jefferson. After all, going overboard with Crosby into making his final struggle between him and Max into the Wesker boss from Resident Evil 5 was my kind of way of keeping Max on edge with him. Then eventually her giving Crosby the tip of her boot with a hand grenade to the face while drowning in molten rock. Over the top, but much more of a satisfying antagonist death than a bullet to the skull by David while knocked unconscious for Jefferson. Even Darth Maul in the Phantom Menace went out better than that. One of my readers had said that I should have a sword duel at the end like Uncharted 4. Now he knows why there isn't. Maybe next time in the sequel.

Then our heroes save Portland and the world, defeat the bad guy, leave Arcadia Bay to start their normal lives, and live happily ever after. And though the false sacrifice at the end left you all on edge and was somewhat forced, the ending to this story was a perfect way to keep everyone asleep at night. The climax Life is Strange fans all deserve after the trauma we were all given by season one's ending. As you know, I've written post-credits scenes that set up the sequel to my story. Though I cannot spoil too much, perhaps the post-credits scenes gave a little away for what will happen next. Just like Marvel does foreshadowing the future of it's franchise.

Before I let go of this topic, there was also the twist about the truth of Rachel Amber. Somewhat predictable, but planned since the day I brought her back. She had lied to Chloe about her going to San Francisco to meet a man named Jack Divine in the story she told her in order to become the rich, powerful, and famous super star she always wanted to be in LA. In reality, she was OD'd to deatg by Nathan in the dark room. But her body was brought to Chrysalis to run a Lazarus program on her so she would be resurrected and to work for them as an agent to help stop quantum terrorism. Something you'll see happening in my prequel story. At first, when thinking about how she was really brought back, I thought about making her a clone of some sort. But felt it would be really jumping the gun and taking away from the character's originality. Point blank.

Oh, I almost forgot! The special fan service chapter "To Serve In Heaven" where the late William Price revisits his daughter one last time in the domain of Elysium for the closure she needs and just for an emotional break from all the Michael Bay action in Frozen Forest. Made me tear up as I wrote it. Favorite chapter in the episode next to "The Last Enemy That Shall Be Destroyed" hands down! Got to my readers big time. Perfectly written. As Stan Lee says, nuff said! I was also going to find a part for William sometime during the chapter "Life", but felt would break the closure Chloe was received early on. Also thought of a part for Jefferson to appear as well, but figured he wasn't the person to belong in Elysium after all that he had done to his photographed females. He could be more of a person who belongs in the underworld of Hades. Just a joke. LOL.

 **In the end...**

As a gamer that has experienced so many other favorite franchises of mine, it's what really inspired nearly every aspect of this story. Understanding this fiction may have tried too difficult to be other games, there are just some games that I've always liked better than Life is Strange that I have more of an influence on and shoehorned a little into this story. No harsh feelings. All that truly mattered to was that I wrote what I could, stayed true to my ideas, and let the hard work pay off. No matter what direction I had gone beyond what the original Life is Strange had, though I may have failed to mesmerize the magic the original had, I had faith in attempting to work out my original ideas no matter the cost.

 **In conclusion...**

Rest assured, it's been a hella crazy ride with you all! As I've mentioned before, your kindness and support for this story means the world to me! Whether I'd be the mystery of Life is Strange or the action of Uncharted and Call of Duty, our journey shall be an unforgettable one! Wish me luck on my next adventures in writing my prequel and sequel! In the meantime, I'll be putting my stories on a hiatus for now and will be writing more one shots to hold you guys and gals over. Until we meet again in a galaxy far, far, away...stay tuned! And...STAY GOLDEN!

This is WickDaLine signing off.

 _"We tell ourselves, life is hard, life is unfair, life is strange."_

 _\- Max Caulfield_


	25. Author's Update

Author's Update

Long time no see folks!

I am posting this as an update to say that it has come to my decision that my season three story will premiere on September 29 at my earliest convenience due to going back to college and other work I must attend to. Including the work on my prequel story "The Lost Daughter" which I should finish by the time I start posting season three.

Another thing is that in honor of my upcoming season three story, I have come to the decision to re-title season two "After the Storm". Makes sense right? Why am I just changing my previous story's title now? One, because Deck Nine had given us a story before the storm. Two, because I love you all. Each and every one of you who has followed me as an author on FanFiction till the end of time! Stay tuned for my upcoming most ambitiously developed sequel story yet! Until we meet again in another time and place, this is me signing off!

Long regards,

WickDaLine


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